
tngtan f ibrar]) 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS .1 



..B.V4.S!3| 

UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. $ 



This valuable Library, containing 980 volumes, was 
presented to the Washington Library, of which Dr. 
Laurie was one of the founders, by his step son, Dr. 
James C. Hall, March 3, 1858. * .. v «i - 



ESSAY 

ON THE 

COMPOSITION OF A SERMON, 

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH 

OF THE 

Rev. JOHN CLAUDE, 

MINISTER OF TUB FRENCH REFORMED CHURCH AT CHARENTON. 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 

THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, 

A BKIEE 

DISSERTATION ON PUBLIC PREACHING. 

AND 



NOTES. 




EY THE LATE 

KEY. R, ROBINSON, OF CAMBRIDGE, 



A NEW EDITION, 

REVISED BY 

% Dtbme of fije Cljurcl) of ©nglanU. 



"We persuade men." St. Paul, 



LONDON: / 

PRINTED FOR B. CROSBY AND CO. STATIONERS* COURT, PATER" 
NQSTER ROW; J. HEATON LEEDS { AND E. B. ROBINSON* 
NOTTINGHAM. 

ISOS. 



I* 



0 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. I. 

Page 



On the Choice of Texts 55 

CHAP. II. 

General Rules of Sermons 60 

CHAP. III. 

Of Connection 74 

CHAP. IV. 

Of Division 78 

chap. v. 



Of Texts to be discussed by way of Explication ... 110 

CHAP. VI. 

Of Texts to be discussed by way of Observation . . . 312 

CHAP. VII. 

Of Texts to be discussed by way of continued Ap- 



plication 497 

CHAP. VIII. 

Of Texts to be discussed in Proposition 545 

CHAP. IX. 

Of the Exordium 577 

CHAP. x. 

Of the Conclusion 602 



Printed by J- Swab. ->:■ 
Frcet Street. 



BRIEF DISSERTATION 

ON THE 

MINISTRATION of the DIVINE WORD, 

BY 

PUBLIC PREACHING. 
-m >>mm\*mm&* m 

PHILOSOPHERS love to contraft the religion of nature 
with that of revelation, and fome of them afcribe fuperio- 
rity to the former. Chriftian minifters have much better reafons 
for afcribing it to the latter j and there are two, which deferve 
particular attention. 

If we confider each as a body of fciencc, and allow revela- 
tion contains all the articles of information included in natural 
religion, and many more than the religion of nature ever knew, 
all neceffary to the perfection of a fyftem of theology, and all 
important to the felicity of man, it will follow, fuperior excel- 
lence belongs to revealed religion. 

If we advert to the mode of communication peculiar to each, and 
grant, it is not enough in an univerfal religion to have a body 
of fcience, there mull be alfo an eafy method of imparting it, 
it will follow, fuperiority is due to revelation. Nature is a 
fpeechlefs beauty, filently waiting till depraved man Ihall find 
leifure and inclination to be inftru£r,ed by dumb figns, by fighs 
which even cultivated capacities find hard to underftand, are 
not fure at any time they have underftood at all, and never 
know when they have comprehended in the whole. Revela- 
tion is really and literally a voice, clear and expreiiive, fpeaking 
at fundry times, and in divers manners. Shall I call it the 
mouth of nature ? The wifeft fav, it is the voice of God! It 
was firft delivered in audible founds by the Creator himfelf to 
our firft parents, it has been fince uttered in his name by pro- 
phets, then by his Son, and after him by infpired apoftles, and 
it has been repeated, explained, and enforced by a fucceffion c£ 
public preachers. By it, in all ages and countries, the ignorant 
have been informed, the indolent aroufed, the profane placed 

a 



iv 



A brief Dijjertation 



before a tribunal of juftice, and brought to genuine repentance, 
the penitent led to a throne of mercy, where pardon was pro- 
claimed, the doubtful directed, the wavering confirmed, the ti- 
mid emboldened, the diftrerTed comforted. What fchool of 
philofophy has wrought effects fo beneficial to mankind as thefe? 
As, therefore, we prefer revelation on every other account, fo 
chiefly on this, its mode of tuition is all-fufficient, and at the 
fame time the fimpleft and eafieft in the world. The things, that 
you have heard among many witneffes, the fame commit to faithful 
men, ivho fall he able to teach others alfo. 

The argument for revelation, that arifes from public preach- 
ing, is defenfible in every point of view, and as it regards the 
bulk of mankind it has peculiar energy. Were we to allow, that 
natural religion was a icience of God as perfect as that which 
revelation pofiefies, yet all the benefits of understanding it 
would be attainable by only fuch as mould have capacity and 
leifure, accuracy of obfervation and juftnefs of reflection. The 
poor and illiterate, the bufy, the diffipated, and the dejected, 
the fick and the aged, thoughtlefs till ficknefs and age overtake 
them, the vigorous youth, in his career of fancied pleafure, the 
wretched malefactor, whom a dungeon brings to feel the want 
of religion ; all thefe, that is to fay, the bulk of mankind, are 
deeply interested in a fimple fort of fyftem, which may be un- 
derstood in a fhort time, and which, while it provides for the 
payment of all due honours to natural religion, makes provifion 
alfo for plucking a criminal from the horrid jaws of yawning 
destruction. Such a fyftem revelation is. In natural religion, 
it is the creator giving laws, the judge trying caufes and con- 
demning criminals, and how cold is the confolation, that arifes 
from thefe conjectures, It is poffible he may pardon the guilty, 
and it is poffible I may be the man ! In revelation, it is the good 
fhepherd, traverfing the wildernefs in anxious purfuit of a loft 
fheep, that hears and knows the fhepherd's voice. It is the ten- 
der father, all melting. with compafiion, and flowing with tears, 
calling to the prodigal beggar, his fon, to return from penury to 
felicity, from the company of brutes to the bofom of God. Belt 
of beings! what delight to hear thy voice, even wrapped in the 
gloom of the darkelt thicket, and wilfully buried in the blacknefs 
of impenetrable {hade ! 

It will be objected, public preaching has been perverted: but 
it will be anfwered, as long as we have a ftandard it may be re- 
formed to its original purity. The ark of Jehovah fell of old 
into the hands of heathens, who, having no dimenfions or di- 
rections from the firft artift, decorated it according to their 
own fuperfutious fancies, and in their great wifdom returned 



on Public Preaching, 



V 



it to its owners, as if it had been a trunk of Dagon accom- 
panied with the glorious images of mice and morbid ulcers. 

(*)• 

Thus it has happened to all the ordinances of heaven. Pray- 
er and preaching, baptifm and the Lord's fupper, have all fal- 
len into the hands of bad men, and they have difguifed and 
difgraced them; but what is reformation, and what is prote- 
ftantifm? do they not include recovery and original purity? In 
regard to the pulpit, let us at leaft try to feparate indelicate hu- 
man baubles from original workmanfhip, and to place the ec- 
clefiaftical roftrum in that neat fimpiicity of finifhed tafte, in 
which the divine artift firft commanded it to be made. Plain- 
nefs in religion, is elegance, and popular perfpicuity true magni- 
ficence. 

The hiftoryof the pulpit is curious and entertaining. It 
has fpoken all languages, and in all forts of ftyle. It has 
partaken of all the cuftoms of the fchools, the theatres, and the 
courts of all the countries, where it has been erected. It has 
been a feat of wifdom, and a fink of nonfenfe. It has been 
filled by the belt and the worft of men. It has proved in fome 
hands a trumpet of fedition, and in others a fource of peace 
and confolation : but on a fair ballance, collected from authen- 
tic hiftory, there would appear no proportion between the be^ 
nefits and the mifchiefs, which mankind have derived from 
it, fo much do the advantages of it preponderate ! In a word^ 
evangelical preaching has been and yet continues to be reputed 
foolimnefs; but real wifdom, a wifdom and a power, by which 
it pleafeth God to fave the fouls of men. (2) 

With views of this kind (I fpeak in the fear of God, who 
fearcheth the heart) and not to give offence to any, I collected 
and publifhed the notes in the following effay. Alas ! does a 
modern epifcopalian undertake the defence of every abfurdity 
exhibited to the world by every thing called in pall times a 
bifhop ! Or mall a modern non-conformift adopt all the weak- 
neffes of every one, who was perfecuted out of eftablifhed com- 

(1) The Philiftines took the ark of God. . . But the 
Lord fmote them with emerods. . . And they fent back 
the ark of God . . with five golden mice, and five golden 
emerods in a coffer, i Sam. iv. 5, 6. 

(2) The preaching of the crofs is to them that periih foolifh, 
nefs. . . But it pleafed God by the fooliftmefs of preaching 
to fave them that believe . . becaufe the foolifhnefs of Go% 

is wifer than men. 1 Cor. i. 

a 2 



A brief Dtffertdtion 



munities ! All other orders of men examine and reform them- 
f elves ; do men in black alone intend to render impropriety im- 
mutable and everlafting! I have exemplified the abfurdities, com-- 
plained of by Mr Claude, by the works of our anceftors, who are 
dead and gone, on purpofe to avoid offending. Indeed, this was 
ttecejjary, for who alive has one pulpit impropriety to quote ! 

I defigned at firft to have added to thefe two a third volume 
of the fame fize, entitled, An Essay toward a History of 
Public Preaching. The matter was intended to be diftributed 
into twenty differtations, containing one with another twenty 
pages each, and entitled as follows : 

I. The neceflity of fome divine revelation as a ground of di- 
vine worfhip. — II. The revelation given to Adam, compared 
with other pretended revelations — III. The patriarchal ftate of 
preaching from Adam to Mofes. — IV. The ftate of preaching 
from Mofes to the Captivity. — V, The ffc.te of preaching during 
the captivity- — VI. The ftate of public tuition, from Ezra's time 
to the coming of Chrift, both in Judea and other provinces. — 
VII. The ftate in which Chrift placed preaching..— VIII. The 
pulpit-ftate during the lives cf the apoftles. — IX. The ftate of 
preaching during the firft three centuries.-— X. The ftate of 
preaching in the Greek church till the reformation. — XI. A 
view of the pulpit in the Latin church till the fame period.-— 

XII. The ftate of preaching in Britain, from the moft remote 
antiquity, and in Europe at the time of the Reformation. — - 

XIII. The condition of public inftruction in England, from the 
reformation till the death of Charles I. — XIV. The Englifli 
pulpit during the civil war and the protectorate. — XV. A view 
of the pulpit from the Acceffion of Charles II. to the revolution. 
, — XVI. The pulpit in foreign churches, and in England, from 
the revolution to the end of the reign of George II. — XVII. 
The ftate of preaching among Englifli, Danifh, Popifh, and 
other miffionaries abroad, particularly in the Eaft and Weft 
Indies.— XVIII. The prefent ftate of preaching in England 
among Roman Catholics, episcopalians, moravians, methodifts, 

prefbyterians, independents, baptifts, quakers, &c- XIX. 

Juftification of thofe in all parties, who simplify public preach- 
ing, by reducing it to its original ftandard of doctrine, language, 
and other properties.— XX. Survey of the whole, tending to 
prove the free and fimple preaching of the pure word of God a 
public blcfiing to fociety, and the power of God to the ialvation 
of men. This was the plan. 

In purfuing this inchanting path, I found pleafure enough to 
Tepay all the labour of collecting many materials^ and poring 



on Public Preaching. 



Vii 



over books and manufcripts : but I found alfo that juftice could 
not be done to that part of the fubject, which I wiflied moft of 
all to illuftrate, without a nearer refidence to the grand repofitory 
of unexplored Britifh fubjects, the Mufeum> and more leifure 
than my public avocations in my own congregation (for I have 
no colleague) would allow me to expect. I have, therefore, laid 
afide the plan, made ufe of a few extracts in thefe notes, torn, 
burnt, and given away mod of the other papers, and patterns of 
fermons, that I had collected, and never more intend to refume 
the fubjectj except this once in the following brief iketch. 

The firit voice, that imparted religious ideas by difcourfe to 
fallen man, was the voice of the creator, called by the infpired 
hiftorian, the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden^ in the 
c:ol of the day. (3)Whether he, who afterwards appeared fo often 
in human fliape, and at laft actually put on a human body, 
defcended into the garden, affirmed a form, and converfed with 
our firft parents on this occafion, or whether the air was fo un- 
dulated by the power of God as to form articulate audible founds^ 
certain it is, Adam and Eve literally heard a voice, and had the 
higheft reafon for accounting it the voice of God. The promife 
to the woman of a fon, who mould bruife the ferpent's head, 
was emphatically and properly called the word of God. It 
was a promife, which they had no right to expect : but, when 
revealed, the higheft reafon to embrace. 

It is natural to fuppofe, God having once fpoken to man, 
that mankind would retain, and repeat with great punctuality 
what had been faid, and liften after more. Accordingly, in- 
fallible records affure us, that, when men began to affociate for 
the purpofe of worfhipping the deity, Enoch prophefied. (4>) We 
have a very fhort account of this prophet, and his doctrine : e- 
nough, however, to convince us, that he taught the principal 
truths of natural and the then revealed religion ; the unity of 
God and his natural and moral perfections-— the nature of virtue, 
and its effential difference from vice — a day of future impartial 
retribution. Conviction of fin was in his doctrine, and com- 
munion with God was exemplified in his conduct. He held 
communion with God by facrifice, and S. Paul reafons, from 
his tejlimmy that he pleafed God, that he had faith in the promife 
of the mediator, for without faith it would have been impojfible 
evert for Enoch to have pleafed God. (5) 

(3) Gen. iii. 

(4) " Enoch, thefeventh from Adam, prophefied." lude 14. 

(5) Enoch faid, the Lord cometh— Enoch faid, The Lord 
cometh with faints— ungodly finners fpeak againft him, and 



viii 



A brief Dijfertation 



From the days of Enoch to the time of Mofes, efich patriarch 
worshipped God with his family, probably feveral aflembled at 
new moons, and alternately inftrufted the whole company. 
Noah was a preacher of righteoufnefs,(6) and by him, as an inftru- 
ment, Chrift by his fpirit preached to the difobedient fouls of 
men, imprifoned in ignorance and vice, and continued with great 
long-fufFering to do lb all the while the ark waspreparing.(7) A- 
braham commanded his houjhold after htm to keep the way of the 
Lordy and to do juflice and judgment ; (8) and Jacob, when his 
houfe lapfed to idolatry, remonltrated againft it, and exhorted 
them, and all that were with him, to put away Jlrange gods, and to 
go up with him to Bethel, to that God, who had anfwered him in 
the day of his diftrefs. (9) In all thefe records of matters of fac~t, 
we perceive, fhort as they are, the fame great lending truths, 
that were taught by Enoch, the general truths of natural religion, 
and along with them the peculiar principles of revelation. They 
faw a heavenly country, (1) and were mindful of it, they had fight 
Of a mediator, (2) and were glad, and they had the promife of 
the appearance of him upon earth, which promife exercifed their 
fpeculations, made a principal part of their public informations, 
and they all died in the faith of its accomplishment. (3) How 
charming upon a primitive mountain, beneath the made of a 
venerable grove, muft the voice of a Melchifedeck have been, 
the father, the prince, and the prieft of his people, now publiftdng 
to his attentive audience good tidings of falvation, peace between 
God and man, and then lifting up holy hands and calling upon 
the name of the Lord, the everlafling God! (4) A few plain truths, 
propofed in fimple ftyle, addrefled to the reafon, and expounded 
by the feelings of mankind, enforced by nothing but fraternal 
argument and example animated by the holy fpirit, and produc- 
tive of genuine moral excellence, accompanied with faciifices, 
comprized the whole fyftem of patriarchal religion. Such was 
the venerable fimplicity of hoary antiquity, before ftatefmen 
ftole the ordinances of religion, and hungry hirelings were paid 
to debafe them. 

The fcripture, fpeaking in general terms, fays, by Mofes came 
the law : (5) but, ftri£Uy fpeaking, the religion, that Mofes 

commit ungodly deeds— Enoch faid, The Lord cometh to exe~ 
cute judgment — The Lord cometh to convince. Jude 14, 15. 19 

Enoch walked with God. Gen. v. 24. Heb. xi. 5, 6. 

(6) 2 Pet. ii. 5. (7) 1 Pet. hi. 19, 20. (8) Gen. xviii. 19. 
(o) Gen. x. xxv. 2, 3. (1) Heb. xi. 15, 16. (2) John viii. 56. 
(3) Heb. xi. 13. (4) Ifa. lii. 7. Rqm. x. 15. Gen. xiv. 18, 19, 
20. xxi.33, (5) John i. 17. 



on Public Preaching, 



taught, contained two parts, the one the law, that is, the reli- 
gion of nature clearly explained in written precept, and terribly 
enforced by threatnings and penalties ; the other the go/pel^ a 
promife of a mediator, and an exhibition of him in vacarious fa- 
crifices j the latter aflifted fenfe, the former required faith. The 
whole compofed a fine body of religious fcience ; it was like 
twilight, light in comparifon with the night of pad ages, and 
darknefs in contrail with the fucceeding day of the chriftian 
ceconomy. 

This great man had much at heart the promulgation of his 
doctrine, he directed it to be infcribed on pillars, to be tran- 
fcribed in books, and to be taught both in public and private by 
-word of mouth. (6) Himfelf fet the example of each, and how 
he, and Aaron fermonized, we may fee by feveral parts of his 
writings. The firft difcourie was heard (7) with profound re- 
verence and attention, the laft was both uttered, and received in 
raptures. (8) 

Public preaching does not appear under this ceconomy to have 
been attached to the priefthood, priefts were not officially 
preachers, and we have innumerable inftances of difcourfes de- 
livered in religious aflemblies by men of other tribes, befides that 
of Levi. 2 he Lord gave the word-, and great was the company of 
thofe, that publijhed it, Jolhua was an Ephraimite ; but, being full 
ofthefpirit of wifdom,(9) he gathered the tribes to Shechem, and 
harangued the people of God. ( 1 ) Solomon was a prince of the 
houfe of Judah, Amos a herdman of Teckoa, yet both were 
preachers, and one at leaft was a prophet. 

Before Mofes, revelation was ftiort, and might fafely be de- 
pofited in the memory : but when God faw fit to blefs the 
church with the large and necefTary additions of Mofes, a book 
became neceffary. This book was the ftandard, and they, who 
/poke not according to this word, were juftly accounted to have m 
light in them. Hencethe diftin&ion between fcriptural inftructors, 
who taught according to the law and the ieftimony, and were cal- 
led Seers ; and fanciful declaimers, who uttered vifions out of 
their own hearts, and were deemed blind, and thought to be in a 
dream, that is under deception, (2) 

The ignorant notions of pagans, the vices of their practice, 
and the idolatry of their pretended worfhip, were in fome fad 
periods incorporated into the Jewifh religion by the princes of 

(6) Deut. xxviii. 8. Deut. vi. 9. xxxi. 19. xvii. 18. Numb, 
v. 23. Deut. iv. 9. (7) Exod. iv. 31. (8) Deut. xxxiiv xxxiv. 
7»8. (9) Deut. xxxiv. 9. (i)Jofh. xxjv. (2) 1 Sam.ix. 9. 
If?. Ivi. 10, Jer xxiiis 28. 



A brief Dijfertatto n 



that nation. Ordinances were inftituted to ferve fecular purpofes, 
and mercenary men were employed to give fan&ion to pra£tices, 
which the religion of Mofes forbad. [%) 

All the prophets, and all the feers protefted againft this a- 
poftacy, (4) and they were perfecuted for doing fo. The apoftacy 
became the eftablifhed worfhip, and they, who adhered to the 
pure original ftandard, either fled their country, or concealed 
themfelves, or lived under difgrace. Firft the ten tribeSj form- 
ing the kingdom of Ifrael, revolted thus from God, and laft the- 
little kingdom of Judah, confiding of the other two tribes, fol- 
lowed their bad example. Before the defection of Judah, nu- 
merous refugees from Ifrael found fan£tuary in Judah : but after 
it, they were harrafled in both. , 5) 

All this time the feers, as often as they could, preached a- 
gainft the crimes of their countrymen. Shemaiah preached to 
Rehoboam, the princes, and all the people at Jerufalem, (6) 
Azariah and Hanani preached to Afa, and his army. (7) Micaiah 
to Ahab. Some of them opened fchools, or houfes of inftruc- 
tion, and there to their fons, that is, difcifiles^ taught the pure re- 
ligion of Mofes. At Naioth, in the fuburbs of Ramah, there was 
one, where Samuel dwelt, there was another at Jericho, and a 
third at Bethel, towhich Elijah and Elifha often reforted. Thither 
the people went on Sabbath-days, and at new moons, and recei- 
ved public leflbns of piety and morality. (8) Thefe fchools were 
places of worfhip, in which prayer was offered to God, and the 
divine word taught to the people. 

Through ail this period, there was a difmal confufion of the 
ufeful ordinance of public preaching. Sometimes they had no 
open vifion ) and the word of the Lord was precious^ or fcarce, the 
people heard it only now and then. At other times, they were 
left without a teaching pricjl, and without law. And at other fea- 
fons again, itinerants, both princes, priefts, and Levites, were 
fent through all the country to carry the book of the law, and to 
teach in the cities. (9) In a word, preaching fiourifhed when 
pure religion grew, and when the laft decayed the firft was fup- 
preiTed. 

The doctrines taught in this period, were chiefly thefe, the 
perfections of one God — the government of the whole univerfe 
by his providence — the moral obligations of men— the precepts 

(3) 1 Kings xii. 25, 33. 2 Kings xvl- 10. (4) 2 Kings xvli. 
*3- (0 2 Chron, xi. 13, 17. (6) 2 Chron. xii. 5. (7) 2 Cfcro.i. 
s v. 1. &c. X vi. 7. (8) 1 Sam. xix. 18. 1 Kings ii. 355. 
2 Kings iv. 23. (9) 1 Sam. iii. 1. 2 Chron, xv. 3. 2 Chron 



oh Puhlic Preaching 



of ttie law, and the penalties of difobedience— the depravity o£ 
man, and the neceffity of renovation — the good tidings of fal- 
vation, the approach of a redeemer, and the neceffity of faith, 
repentance, and univerfal obedience to him,— -a Hate of future 
rewards and punifhments— - and, in effect, the fame gofpel, that 
was afterwards more clearly revealed by Jefus Chrifl and his 
apoftles. (I) 

Mofes had not appropriated preaching to any order of men, 
he had given a general command, thoujhalt teach the words of 
this law, which was equal to faying, Let it be taught. Perfons 
places, times, and manners, were all left open and difcretional, 
Some of the difcourfes, which remain to us, are probably ana« 
lyfes, or abridgments of fermons, which were delivered at 'large- 
Many were preached in camps and courts, in ftreets* fchools, 
cities, and villages, fometimes with great compofure and cook 
nefs, at other times with vehement action and rapturous energy^ 
fometimes in plain blunt ftyle, adapted to the dregs of the peo- 
ple, at other times in all the magnificent pomp of Eaftern alle^ 
gory ; and, on fome occafions, the preachers appeared in public 
with vifible figns, with implements of war, yokes of flavery, or 
fomething adapted to their lubject. They gave lectures on thefe, 
held them up to view, girded them on, broke them in pieces, 
rent their garments, rolled in the duft, and endeavoured, by all 
the methods they could devife, agreeably to the cuftoms of their 
country, to imprefs the minds of their auditors with the nature 
and importance of their doctrines ; nor was it uncommon for the 
hearers to exprefs their emotions during the delivery of the fer- 
mon. We had enthufiafts in England in the lafl centurv, who 
affected in the fame manner a fpirit of prophecy, and, in imita- 
tion of the ancient Jewifh prophets, preached by figns : but they 
forgot they were not in the eaft. 

The fermons of the old prophets often produced amazing 
effects, both in the principles and morals of the people. Singfe 
difcourfes, at fome times, brought a whole nation to repentance, 
although at other times the greateft of them complained, 
hath believed our report ? All day long we have ftretched fort}? our 
hands unto a difobedient and gainfaying people! (2) In the firft cafe ? 
they were in extacies, fuch was their benevolence ; in thg laftj, 
they retired in filence, and wept in fecret places* Some in firft 
tranfports of paffion execrated the day of their birth, and, when 
deliberation and calmnefs returned, committed themfelves, their 
country and their caufe to God. 

(1) Heb. iv, 2. 1 Fet. iv. 6. Gal iii. 8. (2) Rom. t\ 

16, 21° 

b 



%\i A brief Differtation 

Thefe men were highly efteemed by the pious part of the na- 
tion, them they confulted in doubtful cafes, to them they fled 
for confolation in diflrefs 5 and them they fometimes loaded with 
benefits. The good Jofiah, although he fometimes performed 
the office of reading the law in public, and expounding it him- 
felf, yet kept one, who was ftyled the king 9 sfeer, and others, who 
were fcribes, and who read and expounded the law to him and 
his court. (3) It had been common with his anceftors to do the 
fame. Hence falfe prophets, bad men, who found it worth 
while to affect to be good, crowded the courts of princes. Je- 
zebel an idolatrefshad four hundred prophets of Baal, and Ahab, 
a pretended worfhipper of Jehovah, had as many pretended pro- 
phets of his own profeffion. (4) Thefe covered their want of 
principle, with an exterior like that of the true prophets, and 
even went beyond them, witnefs the frantic zeal of thofe, who 
publicly difputed with Elijah. By means of thefe deceivers, the 
faithful preachers of the divine word funk into difgrace. Zede- 
Jtiah would not humble himfelf when a Jeremy fpoke to him from the 
mouth of the Lord. The chief of the priefls imitated the prince, and 
the people them. " The God of their fathers fent to them by his 
melTengers, rifing up betimes and fending : but they mocked the 
meffengers of God, defpifed his word, andmifufed his prophets, 
till the wrath of the Lord arofe, and there was no remedy." Into 
captivity, therefore, for feventy years they were obliged to go. 

The prophets, and good men, who were carried captive along 
with their countrymen, did not leave their religion behind them. 
In Babylon, where idolatry was eftablifhed, they profeffed, and 
fuffered for non-conformity, and affembled in private houfes for 
the worlhip of God, and there the prophets availed themfelves 
of the diipenfation to inculcate the principles of their religion, 
and to poffefs their fellow captives with a fmcere averfion to i- 
dolatry. There, as their former preachers had foretold, being 
allured into a wildernefs, and furrounded with a hedge of 'thorns* 
fo that they could not return home, God hewed them by his pro- 
phets, and few them by the words of his mouth; there he fpoke home 
to their hearts, took away the names of Baalim out of their 
mouths, and taught them once more to call him I/hi, the being to 
whom they were in contract: for obedience. (5) To the fuccefs 
of preaching, and not to the fmart of affliction, are we to attri- 
bute the remarkable reconverfion of the Jews to the belief and 
worfhip of one God, a converfion that remains to this day. The 

(3) 2 Chron. xxxiv. 29, 30. &c. xxxv. 15.— xxxiv. 18, &c. 
(4) 2 Chron. xviii. 5. (s) Hofea iii. 14, 6. vi. 5. ii. 14. 

*7, i6> - 



on Public Preaching. jfifa 

Jews have fince fallen into horrid crimes ; but they have never 
fince this period lapfed into idolatry. 

The prophet Ezekiel was a man extraordinarily appointed 
to preach to the captives, and endowed with lingular abilities 
for the execution of his office. (6) He received his inttructions 
in extacies, and he uttered them generally in rapturous ve- 
hemence. He had a pleafant voice, and the entire management 
of it, he could play well on the infirument^ that is, he knew 
how to difpofe his organs of fpeech fo as to give energy by gi- 
ving proper tone and accent to all he fpoke. The people were 
as much charmed with his difcourfes as if they had been odes 
fet to mufic, he was a lovely Jong in their ears, and they ufed to 
" fay to one another, Come, and let us hear what is the word, 
that cometh forth from the Lord. (7) The elders and the people 
afiembled at his houfe, and fat before him, and there, fometimes 
in the morning, and at other times in the evening, he delivered 
thofe fharp and pointed fermons, which are contained in his 
prophecy* One while he preached by figns, as the former pro- 
phets had done, another while he fmote with his hand, and 
ftamped with his foot, when he addreffed them, trembling at 
their depravities, and weeping over their calamities, His 
writings contain the doctrines, which he taught ; and the man- 
ner, in which he delivered them, is in all probability a pattern 
of the method employed by all the other preachers during the 
captivity. 

It mould feem, after the Jews had rejected the true prophets, 
they were punilhed with multitudes of public preachers, pretend- 
ing to a fpirit of prophecy. Thefe pelts of foeiety had art and 
addrefs enough to infinuate themfelves into favour, and to ob- 
tain popularity. They fwarmed every where, and became the 
heavieft curfe, that was ever inflicted on a guilty world. 
The prophets held them in the utmoft abhorrence, and a great 
part of their miniftry was addreffed to unrrxafk them. They 
deicribed them by every odious image they could invent, and they 
pointed out in the clearer! manner the dreadful confequences of 
their deteftable hypocrify. 

Thefe men were the mere creatures of thofe abandoned ty- 
rants, who ufurped the crown, and they were fet up to 
affift their profligate creators in defpciling the people of their 
liberty and God of his glory. Religion was made an engine of 
ftate, and thefe hirelings were appointed to work it. Jeroboam, 
the firft manufacturer of thefe detefted tools, made them of 
,the national filth-, he, in mere policy, took the bafeft and molt 



(6) Ezek. ii* iii. (7)Ezek. xxxiv. 30 &c. 



A brief DiJJertation 



depraved and unprincipled of the nation, and ordained them 
minifters of that motley religion, which he had fet up to prevent 
the return of the ten tribes to the family of David. (8)?-The King 
of Afiyria, with views exactly fimilar, allowed the captives to per- 
petuate this vile race, and we find them in Babylon ; defcribed, 
and execrated by Ezekiel. (9) 

The fuccefs of thefe bad men is chiefly to be afcribed to 
thefe four caules. Firft, they pretended a divine rights and 
faid, The Lord faith fo and fo. They were too artful to profefs 
the truth, that would have been, The king faith fo and fo, The 
lying fpirit of the devil fent us to preach thus and thus: but 
here was a pretended reverence of God, and an acknowledgment 
of his authority. (1) Secondly t they affected to imitate the true 
prophets, till they had obtained the popular plaudit, then they 
dropped them into obfcurity, and funk them into difgrace, and 
at laft they turned the general odium over them, becaufe they 
continued inflexibly upright, and could not be brought to mimic 
their betrayers. Thirdly, they framed their dotlrine and de- 
portment, not by the nature of God, and the dictates of his 
written word \ but, on the contrary, by the prevailing pajfions 
of the bulk of their auditors. Their ftudy was to pleafe, and 
they faid and did whatever they thought would anfwer that end. 
Fourthly, they were the conftant companions of their admirers, 
and went with them into the perpetration of every crime. The 
true prophets were irkfome or infipid to bad men; but thefe, thefe 
were chaplains exactly fuited to their patrons, they could faft 
with Ahab, and feaft with Jezebeh 

According to thofe, who had the bell opportunities of know- 
ing them, their qualifications were mean and their difpofitions 
wicked. Hence they are called blind> ignorant) dumb dogs, that 
£ou!d not bark—^ greedy dogs, for their avarice, every one looking 
for his gain from his quarter-^/leeping dogs, for their indolence 
v — drunkards, faying, Fetch wine, we will fill ourfelves with 
tflrong drink, to-morrow {hall be as to day, and much more abun- 
dant— perf ecuiors when in profperity, and cowards in adverfity-r~ 
dogmatical caviller s about learning and religion, while they were 
deftitute of decency, civility and common fenfe— unprincipled 
wretches, who, though they would not Jhut a door in the temple, 
or kindle a Jive on the altar of God their creator^?* nought, would 
protect, applaud, and canonize the greateft criminals for a hand- 



(8) i Kings xii. 26 — 32. (9) 2 Kings xviL Ezek. xiii, 
(1) a Chron. xviiii. 3— 12— zu 



en Public Preaching, 



ful of barley, and doom millions to deftru&ion for a piece of 
bread! (2) 

When the feventy years of the captivity were expired, the 
captives were divided in their opinion about returning. Some 
traded and flourifhed in Babylon, and, having no faith in the 
divine promife, and too much confidence in their fordid guides, 
chofe to live where idolatry was the eftablifhed religion, and 
defpotifm the foul of civil government. The good prophets and 
preachers Zeruboabei, Jofhua, Haggai, and others, haying con- 
fidence in the word of God, and afpiring after their natural, 
civil, and religious rights, endeavoured by all means to extricate 
themfelves and their countrymen from that mortifying Hate, 
into which the crimes of their anceftors had brought them. 
They wept, failed, prayed, preached, prophefied, and at length 
prevailed. The chief inftruments were Nehemiah and Ezra; 
the firft was governor, and reformed their civil ftate, the laft 
was a fcribe of the law of the God of heaven, and addrefled himfelf 
to ecclefiaftical matters, in which he rendered the nobleft fervice 
to his country, and to all pofterity. 

Ever fince Mofes had committed the revelations of God to 
writing, and had commanded the book to be transcribed, a 
great number of ingenious men, of feveral tribes, had taken 
up the profeflion of writing, and were called fcribes. The five 
facred books of Mofes contained the genealogies of all the fa- 
milies of the nation, the body of jurifprudence, that directed 
all their courts of law, the whole ritual of the church, and ma- 
ny other articles of neceffary and daily ufe. The prophets fince 
Mofes had added to the infpired code, and by fo doing had 
both increafed knowledge, and the neceffity of numberlefs 
fcribes to diffufe it. The men, who employed themfelves thus 
in tranferibing the infpired writings, were called fcribes of the 
law. 

The benefit of writing and records prefently became obvious, 
and other fcribes were foon employed about fecular matters. 
There were under the judges many of the tribe of Zebulon, 
who handled the pen of the writer, fcribes who kept records. 
There were afterward fcribes of the king, that is, private fe- 

(2) Ifaiah lvi. Jer. xxiii. Ezek. xiii. 19, xxxiv. Mai. i. 10. 
Amos vii. 12, &c. Jer. xx. &c. &c. 2 Chron xviii. Ze- 
dekiah fmote Micaiah on the cheek, and faid, Which way went 
the Spirit of the Lord from me to fpeak unto thee! And Micaiah 
faid, Thou (halt fee on that day, when thou (halt run from cham- 
ber to chamber to hide thyfelfj 23, 24. 



xvi 



A brief Dljfertation 



creatraries; fcribes of the hofl, that is, fecretaries at war, or com- 
miffaries of the army; and the profeffion became very honourable 
and lucrative. This clafs of writers, I mould call, for diftin&ion 
hke,fecular fcribes. 

Writing, reading, giving a fenfe of what is written, flu dy- 
ing to find out a true fenfe to give, and proving and fupporting 
the fenfe given, go together, and fcribes naturally became 
ftudious, difputatious, and learned men. Ezra, the reformer 
of the church at the return from captivity, was the molt emi- 
nent of his profeffion, a ready Jcribe in the law of his God. 

This man laid the foundation of reformation in religious prin- 
ciple, and he relied religious principle on that infallible rock, 
the word of God. In order to lay a firm and good ground of 
this, he colle&ed and collated manufcripts of the facred wri- 
tings, added a few explanatory lines, and a few anecdotes, 
{himfelf was infpired) and arranged and publifhed the holy ca- 
non in its prefent form. To this he added a fecond work, as 
neceflary, as the former; he revived, and new modelled pu- 
blic preaching, and exemplified his plan in his own perfon. The 
Jews had almofh loft in the feventy years captivity their original 
language, that was now become a dead language, and they 
fpoke a jargon made up of their own language, and that of 
the Chaldeans, and other nations, with whom they had been 
confounded- Formerly, preachers had only explained fub- 
je£ts ; now they were obliged to explain words, words, which 
in the facred code were become obfolete, equivocal, or 
dead. 

Now alfo it became more neceffary than ever to open hou- 
fes for popular inflru£tion in towns all over the country, af- 
ter the pattern of the fchools of the old prophets. According- 
ly, houfes were ere&ed, not for ceremonial worfhip, as fa- 
crificing, for this was confined to the temple: but for moral 
obedience, as praying, preaching, reading the law, divine wor- 
fhip, and focial duties. Thefe houfes were called fynagogues, 
the people repaired hither morning and evening for prayer; 
and on^Sabbaths and feftivals the law was read and expounded 
to them. It is with a great deal of juflice, that learned men 
afcribe the following Jewifh averfion to idolatry, and their 
attachment to the law, to conftant public preaching in their 
fynagogues. 

We have a fhort, but beautiful description of the manner of 
Ezra's firft preaching. (S) Upwards of fifty thoufand people 
stffembled in a ftreer, or large fquare, near the Watergate. It 



(3) Nehem. vilL 



en Public Preaching, 



was early in the morning of a Sabbath-day. A pulpit of wood, 
in the fafhion of a fmall tower, was placed there on purpofe for 
the preacher, and this turret was fupported by a fcaffold, or tem- 
porary gallery, where, in a wing on the right hand of the pulpit, 
fat fix of the principle preachers, and in another on the left feven* 
Thirteen other principle teachers, and many Levites, were pre- 
fent alfo, on fcaffolds erected for the purpofe, alternately to of- 
ficiate. "When Ezra afcended the pulpit, he produced and open- 
ed the book of the law, and the whole congregation inftantly 
rofe up from their feats, and flood. Then he offered up prayer 
and praife to God, the people bowing their heads, and worfhip- 
ping the Lord with their faces to the ground ; and at the clofe 
of the prayer with uplifted hands they folemnly pronounced A- 
men, Amen. Then, all {landing, Ezra, aflifted at times by the 
Levites, read the law diflinclly, gave the fenfe, and caufed them to un- 
der]} and the reading. The fermons delivered fo affected the 
hearers, that they wept exceflively, and about noon the forrow 
became fo exuberant and immeafurable, that it was thought ne~ 
ceffary by the governor, the preacher, and the Levites to reftrain 
it. They, therefore, reminded the congregation — that a juft 
grief might run into excefs — that there was an incongruity be- 
tween a feftival and lamentation — and that on this feftival, there 
were fingular caufes of extraordinary joy, they were delivered 
from captivity, the law was reftored, and they, the very poorefh 
of them, had been made by the pains of the preachers to under- 
ftand it. Go your way, faid they, eat the fat — drink the fweet—— 
fend portions unto them, for whom nothing is prepared. — Be not dis- 
couraged — religious joy is a people's ftrength. The wife and 
benevolent fentiments of thefe noble fouls were imbibed by the 
whole congregation, and fifty thoufand troubled hearts were calm- 
ed in an inftant. Home they returned to eat, to drink, to fend 
portions, and to make mirth, becaufe they had underflQod the iuords 9 
that were declared unto him. Plato was alive at this time, teach- 
ing dull philofophy to cold academicks : but what was he, and 
what was Xenophon, or Demofthenes, or any of the pagan ora- 
tors, in comparison with thefe men ! 

From this period to that of the appearance of Jefus Chrift, 
public preaching was univerfal, fynagogues were multiplied 3 
there were thirteen in his time at Tiberias, and at Jerufalem, 
they fay, four hundred. In the latter number mod likely are in- 
cluded profeuchas, or fmall places for private prayer. 

The great concourfe of people, who attended the fervice at the 
fynagogues, and the manifefl utility of public inflru&ion, ren- 
dered fome fort of order neceffary. A fmall aflembly, therefore* 
was formed of the wifeft and moil intelligent of the priefts and 



A trie/ ' DiJJertation 



fcribes, thefe were a council, called elders, and the prefidetft wai 
named ruler of the fynagogue. The rulers fometimes preached 
fermon-wife, at other times inftru&ed the people by way of 
queftion and anfwer, and at all times directed who fhould fpeak 
and preach in the fynagogue. 

The fcribes were in their meridian glory in the time of Ezra, 
He and his colleagues were truly great men, and their expofitions 
of holy fcripture were remembered long after their deceafe, and 
quoted by their fucceffors. Had fucceffive fcribes quoted their 
comments as comments, all had been well : but they alledged 
them as law, and gave them as much authority as the text itfelf. 
This was fetting a dangerous fnare for eager difputants, more in- 
tent on gaining their argument than on inveftigating the truth, 
and into this temptation the whole nation fell. Hence came the 
national attachment to the traditions of the elders, and hence 
the invention and propagation of traditions, never heard of by 
the elders. Hence fe£ts arofe, and hence, in the end, that in- 
efficiency of the divine word, of which our Lord complained •, for, 
where fcripture is not allowed to operate as law, it is, in ftri£t- 
nefs of fpeech, of no effect. 

All the fe£ts in the Jewtfh church ran the fame fate as elfe- 
where, they rofe in weaknefs, and ended in wickednefs. A 
filly, fuperftitious, weak enthufiaft is the natural founder of a 
feci:, and a bold villian is the ufual fupporter of it. The fir ft, 
profelytes are in earneft, the laft are knaves. 

It would carry us too far from our fubje£t, were we to par* 
ticularize the rife, the hiftory, the opinions, and the ruin of Sa- 
maritans, Pharifees, Sadducees, Effenes, and other religious par- 
ties in Judea. They are in general pretty well known, and the 
New Teftament gives us a general idea of the doctrines held by 
all except the Effenes, who were a kind of reclufes, Jewifh 
monks. It is fufficient to obferve, each party preached, both ki 
Jerufalem, and in all other parts of Jewry ; and, when the ca- 
lamities of their own country, or the profperity of other places, 
induced them to quit their native foil, and to fettle elfewhere, 
they built fynagogues, or met in private houfes, where on Sab- 
bath days and feftivals, they worfhipped God, and preaching 
was always a part of their fervice. (4) It is not neceffary to give 
patterns of their fermons here, or to defcribe their manner of de- 
livering them. In general, we may remember, the Jews in this 
period were better known than their anceftors had been to the 

(4) Phil. Jud. de Sept. et Feft.— Buxtorfii Synagog. Wa- 
ge nlcil Tel. Ign,— Vitring. Synagog.— Alting. Heptat. Tom. v. 
Diff 2. 



on Public Preaching. 



Weftern world, and they themfelves travelled into other coun- 
tries more. They had therefore dropped many of the ruder 
ways of fpeaking ufed by the eld prophets, and had adopted the 
more fedate and polifhed methods of public fpeakers in pagan 
fchools, and fenates, and courts of law. This art imported into 
the church makes fleepy fermons for the dog-days. Happy for 
them, had they refted here : but alas ! they embraced popular 
errors, and pagan vices, and incorporated both into the religion 
of Mofes, fo that in the reign of Herod, who was a creature of 
the Emperor Auguftus, the Jewifh church was funk to a level 
with pagan temples, and all were confidered as engines of Hate, 
Inferior churchmen were in fubjection to the high prieft, and the 
high prieft himfelf was an officer of the crown. It is eafy to 
guefs what preaching they had. 

In thofe days appeared that lingular preacher, John the Bap- 
tift. He was extraordinarily commiffioned from heaven to an- 
nounce the advent of the promifed Mefiiah, and he adopted the 
plan formerly ufed by Ezra, appealing by public preaching to 
the common fenfe of mankind. He took Elijah for his model, 
and, as the times were very much like thofe, in which that pro- 
phet lived, he chofe a doctrine and a method very much re fern- 
bling thofe of that venerable man. His fubjects were few, plain, 
and important, repentance was the chief. His ftyle was vehe- 
ment, his images were bold and well placed, his deportment was 
folemn, his action eager, and his morals fevere. The people 
flocked in great multitudes after him, and furrounded him with 
a popularity, of which his enemies were afraid. He fell, how- 
ever, a facrifice to female revenge at a tyrant's drunken bout, 
where defpotifm gave whatever prostitution required. Jefus 
Chrift had been openly introduced by John to the knowledge 
and affection of the people, and at John's death Jefus appeared 
in public as a preacher. Before his minifterial labours began, 
and preparatory to them, he had that vifion recorded in the 
firft eleven verfes of the fourth chapter of Matthew, a vifion, as 
one of our minifters has mod beautifully {hewn, (5) excellent- 
ly adapted to the time and purpofe, 

Our Lord Jefus Chrift had been long expected to appear in the 
Jewifh church, as a prophet like unto Mofes, and his miniftry had 
been characterized, as the moft beneficial, that could be ima- 
gined. The people, therefore, formed the higheft expectations 
of his oeconomy, and he framed it fo as to exceed all defcription,, 
He taught . . . not as the fcribes. 



(5) Rev. Mr Farmer, 
c 



XX 



A brief Differtation 



Firft, inftead of deriving his do&rine from popular notions, 
human paflions, the interefts of princes, or the traditions of 
priefts, he took it immediately from the holy fcriptures, to which 
he conftantly appealed. The truths of natural religion he ex- 
plained and eftablilhed; the doctrines of revelation he expound- 
ed, elucidated, and enforced, and thus brought life and immor- 
tality to light by the gofpel. 

Next, the doflrines, which he taught, were all plain facls — 
God is a fpirit — God fent his fon into the world, that the world 
through him might be faved— -Mofes wrote of me — He that 
believeth on him, that fent me, is palled from death unto life—- 
The dead Ihall hear the voice of the Son of God — The wicked 
fhall go away into everlafling punilhment— The righteous {hall 
go into life eternal — My kingdom is not of this world—The 
merciful are happy — Happy are the pure in heart — Few find 
the narrow way, that leadeth to life— Many go in at the wide 
gate, that leadeth to deftru&ion. — All thefe, and many more of 
the fame kind, are fa£ts plain and true, and they were the Am- 
ple truths, which Jefus Chrift chofe to teach. 

Thirdly, the motives, which he employed to give his doctrine 
energy, were not taken from finful fecular things; but it was 
urged home in its truth and importance. This fa£t is true, and 
therefore you ought to believe it, whether the world admit 
or not .That duty is important to your health, to your proper- 
ty, to your comfort, to your falvation, to your pleafing God, and, 
therefore you ought to perform it, whether the world per- 
form it or not. 

The tempers, in which he executed his miniftry, were the 
nobleft, that can be conceived. He was humble, compafhonate, 
firm* difinterefted, and generous. He difplayed, in all the courfe 
of his miniftry, fuch an afiortment of properties as obliged fome 
of his auditors to burft into exclamatory admiration, bleffed are 
the paps, which thou haft fucked J others to hang upon his lips, 
wondering at the gracious words, that proceeded out of his mouth, 
and all to acknowledge, never man fpake like this man ! This was 
not a temporary tide of popularity, it was admiration found- 
ed on reafon, and all ages fince have admired and exclaimed in 
like manner. 

Add to thefe the fimplicity and majefty of his ftyle, the beau- 
ty of his images, the alternate foftnefs and feverity of his ad- 
drefs, the choice of his fubjecls, the gracefulnefs of his deport- 
ment, the indefatigablenefs of his zeal . * . . where fhall I 
put the period ? his p erfe&ions are inexhauftible, and our ad- 



on Public Preaching, 



xxi 



miration is everlafting. The character of Chrift is the beft book 
a preacher can ftudy. 

In order to mortify human vanity, to convince the world that 
religion was a plain fimple thing, and that a little common fenfe 
accompanied with an honeft good heart was fufficient to pro- 
pagate it, without any aid derived from the cabinets of princes, 
or the fchools of human fcience, he took twelve poor illiterate 
men into his company, admitted them to an intimacy with him- 
felf, and, after he had kept them a while in tuition, lent them to 
preach the good tidings of falvation to their countrymen. A 
while after he fent feventy more, and the difcourfes, which he 
delivered to each clafs at their ordination, are made up of the 
moft wife and benevolent fentiments, that ever fell from the 
mouth of man. All the topics are pure theology, and all unpol- 
luted with puerile conceits, human politics, literary dreams, 
ecclefiaftical traditions, party difputes, and all the other dif- 
graces of preaching, which thofe fan&imonious hypocrites, 
fcribes, and pharifees, and pretended doctors and rabbies had 
introduced into it. 

Jefus Chrift had never paid any regard to the place, where 
he delivered his fermons; he had taught in the temple, the fyna- 
gogues, public walks, and private houfes ; he had preached on 
mountains, and in barges and (hips. His millionaries imitated 
him, and convenience for the time was confecration of the place. 
He had been equally indifferent to the poflure % he flood, or fat, 
at his own eafe and the popular edification required. The time 
alfo had been accommodated to the fame end. He had preached 
early in the morning, late in the evening, on fabbath days and 
feftivals, and whenever elfe the people had leifure and inclina- 
tion to hear. It had been foretold, the Meffiah mould not lift up 9 
nor ay, nor caufe his voice to be heard in the ftreets y that is, mould 
not ufe the artifices of thofe, who fought for popularity. It 
fhould feem, Jefus Chrift ufedvery little action : but that little 
was jufl, natural, grave, and expreflive. He fometimes wept, 
and always felt : but he never exprefTed his emotions in a thea- 
trical manner, much lefs did he preach as a drowfy pedant de- 
claims, who has no emotions to exprefs. 

The fuccefs, that accompanied the miniftry of our Emanuel, 
was truly aftonifhing. My foul overflows with joy, my eyes with 
tears of pleafure, while I tranfcribe it* When this Sun of 
righteoufnefs arofe with healing under his wings, the difintereft- 
ed populace, who lay ail neglected and forlorn, benighted with 
ignorance and benumbed with vice, faw the light, and hailed 
the brightnefs of its rifing. Up they fprang, and after him in 

c2 



xxii 



A brief Differtation 



multitudes, men, women, and children went. Was he to pafs a 
road, they climbed the trees to fee him, yea the blind fat by the 
way fide to hear him go by. Was he in a houfe, they unroofed 
the building to come at him. As if they could never get near 
enough to hear the foft accents of his voice, they prefled, they 
crouded, they trod upon one another to furround him. When 
he retired into the wildernefs, they thought him another Mofes, 
^.and would have made him a king. It was the fineft thing they 
could think of. He, greater than the greateft monarch, delpifed 
worldly grandeur : but to fulfil prophecy, fitting upon a borrow- 
ed afs's colt, rode into Jerufalem the fon of the Highefty and al- 
lowed the tranfported multitude to ftrew the way with garments 
and branches, and to aroufe the infenfible metropolis by accla- 
mations, the very children mouting Hofannah, Hofannah in the 
higheft ! Hofannah to the fon of David ! Biejfed be he, that cometh 
in the name of the Lord ! 

The Rabbies pretended, the populace knew not the law, and 
were curfed, and it is certain they knew not thofe glcffes of the 
law, which traditionifts affected to teach : but this ignorance 
was their happinefs. It would have been well for the teachers, 
had they never known them. The populace did know the law, 
and often quoted it in its true fenfe. What myftery is there in 
the ten commandments ! or what erudition is requifite to deter- 
mine, whether he, who opened the eyes of the blind, were a 
worfhipper of God, or a finner ! It is a high privilege of pover- 
ty, that it is a ftate degage, difengaged, detached, unbiafTed, and 
neareft of all others to free inquiry. The populace are not worth 
poifoning by ecclefiaftical quacks, for they cannot pay for the 
drugs. Their fenfes of feeing and hearing, their faculties of ob- 
ferving, reflecting, and reafoning, are all as equal to religions to- 
pics as thofe of their fuperiors, and more fo, becaufe unfophi- 
fticated. If they apply themfelves to examine, their atteftation 
is a high degree of probability, if not a demonft ration. It was 
glorioufly faid by a blind beggar to a bench of curmudgeons, 
Why! herein is a marvellous thing, that ye, with all your great books 
and broad phylacteries, long titles, and hard names, wife looks 
and academical habits, know not whence Jefus is, and yet he hath 
opened my eyes. New we, we blind beggars, we curled people, 
who know not the law, we who are altogether born in fin, we 
know that God heareth not jinners. — If this man were not of God, 
he could do nothing. ( 6 ) 

This popularity, obtained by public preaching fupported by 



(<5) John ix. 



on Public Preaching, 



xxiii 



a courfe of beneficent actions, many of which were miraculous, 
excited the envy of the leading churchmen, and they deter- 
mined to deftroy Jefus. They dare not appeal to the people, 
his conftant auditors and companions: but they pretended 
loyalty to Caefar, and love to their country, and taxed the 
Prince of Peace with ftirring up /edition. We know the 
iflue. Let us draw a vail over this horrid part of the hiftory 
of mankind, and let us pafs on to the principal object of our 
attention. 

Jefus Chrift taught no fecrets, and he had commanded his 
apoftles to publilh upon the houfe tops what they had heard 
in private converfation. He charged them not to decline the 
public preaching of the divine word after his death : but to 
preach it to every creature. He promifed them extraordinary 
affiftance for this extraordinary work, and he fulfilled his pro- 
mife> and exceeded their expectations, about fix weeks .after his 
crucifixion. 

The birth, life, doctrine, example, miracles, crucifixion, re- 
direction, and afcenfion of Chrift made a large addition to the 
old fubjects of preaching. The old ceconomy was a rude de- 
lineation, the new was a finifhed piece. It was no new doctrine, 
it was an old plan brought to perfection, and fet in finiihed ex- 
cellence to laft for ever. It was the religion of love to God and 
man made obvious and univerfal. 

Chrift, in the courfe of his miniftry, had likened public 
preaching to a concert of mufic, the grave deep tones of John 
the baptift were all in perfect harmony with the foft and live- 
ly airs of his fucceflbrs •, a method of inftruction contemned by 
the partial j but juftifiedby the fons of true wifdom.{7) Agreea- 
bly to this notion, he gave the holy Spirit fo as to form a va- 
riety of perfect preachers, each excelling in his own fphere. 
James and John were fons of thunder* (8) Barnabas was a fon of 
conflation, (9) Peter was formed to preach to Jews, and Paul 
to convict and convert Gentiles. ( 1 ) By this admirable cecono- 
my the wolf dwelt ivith the lamb, the leopard lay down with the 
kid, the calf the young lion, and the failing aflbciated together, and 
a little child might have led them. (2) AfTuredly they, who have 
made themfelves ftandards of excellence, and have required of 
all others uniformity to themfelves, have neither underftood the 
world of nature nor the ceconomy of redemption. 

The apoftles exactly copied their divine mafter. They con- 

(7) Mat. xi. 17, &c. (8) Mark iii. 17. (9) Ads iv. 36. 
(1) Gal. ii. 7, 8. (2) Ifaiah xi. 6, 



A brief Dijfertation 



fined their attention to religion, and left the fchools to difpute, 
and politicians to intrigue* Their doctrines were a fet of facts 
of two forts. The firft were within every man's obfervation, 
and they appealed for the truth of them to common fenfe and 
experience. The others were facts, which from their nature 
could be known only by teftimony. To the truth of thefe they 
bore witnefs, and avowed the credibility of their evidence. The 
firft required reafoning, the lafl faith. Thefe doctrines 
they fupported entirely by evidence, and neither had, nor re- 
quired, fuch amftance as human laws or worldly policy, the 
eloquence of the fchools or the terror of arms, the charms of 
money or the tricks of tradefmen could afford them. Their 
gofpel was a fimple tale, that any honeft man might tell. As 
to all the circumftantials of public preaching, time, place, gefture, 
ftyle, habits, and fo on, it was their glory to hold thefe indiffer- 
ent, and to be governed in their choice by a fupreme attention 
to general edification. 

Great was the fuccefs of thefe venerable men. Their fer- 
vices were highly acceptable to God, to whom they were a 
fiueet favour of Chrift; they diffufed the knowledge of him in e- 
very place, and he made them always triumph in Chrift 9 he open- 
ed doors, into which they entered, and preached Chriffs gofpel, 
(3) They formed multitudes of religious focieties, called 
churches, and they had the pleafure of feeing them choofe 
from among themfelves honeft and able men to preach the 
divine word, and to adminifter the (landing ordinances of Jefus 
Chrift, in the abfence, and after the death of the apoftles. 
Thefe were called bi/hops, infpectors, or feers y as the old prophets 
were, and he who wants to be informed that this primitive 
brother was not a lord in lawn, wants at the fame time to be 
told, that if a child want bread his parent fhould not give him 
»/?<?//>,. if he wifh for f/h, he mould not be mortified with a 
fcorpfon. 

The high efteem, in which chriftians held the apoftles, exci- 
ted the envy or bad men, and they prefently poured themfelves 
into chriftian churches to {hare the benefits. Thefe acted over 
again the part of the old falfe prophets, and they were treated 
by the apoftles as the true prophets had treated the former im- 
poftors. They forefaw, however, and foretold, that men of 
this fort, after their deceafe, would proftitute '-religion to worldly 
purpofes, and allbciate the fpirit of the devil with the profef- 
fion of chriftianity. They knew the weaknefs of fome pious 
men, and the defperate projects of the wicked. They remem- 
(3) 2 Cor. if. 15, 14,12. 



on Public Preaching. 



bered the ftate of the Mofaical oeconomy, and they recollected 
the prophecies of their divine mafter. They, therefore, apprized 
fucceeding chriftians of their danger, by defcribing the men, by 
directing the fervants of Chrift to adhere to the written word, 
and whenever apoftates fhould arrive at power enough to fet up 

ANOTHER STANDARD OF FAITH AND MANNERS, tO withdraw 

from them. (4) TheyarTured them, they would be perfecuted ; 
but they charged them to (land firmly in chriftian liberty, and to 
hold fall both the faith and the profession of it, (5) and they 
promifed them the prefence, the bleffing, and thefupportof God. 
They never fo much as hinted, that the church might let itfelf to 
the ftate, that any had a right to give laws to confcience, to ap- 
point ceremonies of divine worfhip, and to enforce both by penal 
fanctions : but, confidering Chrift as hmmg jinijhed his religious 
plan, , charged their fucceflbrs to keep what they had committed to 
their trujl unfpotted and unrebukeable until the fecond appearing of Je- 
fus Chrift. (6) The longeft liver of thefe infpired men .defen- 
ded in bold allegorical ftyle, like that of the old prophets; the na- 
ture and duration of the apoftacy, and clofed the holy canon by 
threatening all, who fhould increafe or diminimthedivineword.(7) 
Here we are arrived at that part of the hiftory of public 
preaching, at which a confiftent chriftian, efpecially an uniform 
proteftant, ought to paufe, in order to form a juft notion of the 
perfection of the pulpit. Here we have the whole of the revealed 
will of God, the whole body of chriftian fcience, confequently, 
a perfect preacher, whatever opinions and doctrines he may here- 
after meet with in the future hiftory of preaching, will think him- 
felf thoroughly furnijhed unto every good work, although he diibe- 
lieve them all. Future preachers may be counfel on different 
fides of queftions, which may arife: but not a foul of them may 
give law. No mortal may hereafter afcend an eminence, and 
fay, You have heard the gofpel fay fo and fo : but I fay the di- 
rect contrary. 

Here we have all the genuine motives and fupports of the fa- 
cred fyftem •, truth fupported by reafon and argument, chriftian 
inftitutes maintained by motives pure and chriftian like them- 
felves, confequently, a perfect preacher, how zealous foever he 
may be to propagate chriftianity, will not think himfelf authorized 

(4) Thefe things teach. — If any man teach otherwife, and con- 
fent not to wholefome words, even the words of our Lord Jefus 
Chrift— from fuch withdraw thyfelf- 1 Tim. vi, 3, 6. 2 Theff. 
iii. 6. 

(5) Heb. iv. 14. x. 23. (6) 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14, 
(7) Rev. xxii. 18, 19. 



xxviii 



A brief Dijferiathn ■ 



. and teachers was to difTeminate that; confequently, public 
•preaching was frequent, plain, popular, and powerful ; and al- 
though there are many exceptions, efpecially among the Origen- 
ifts, yet during this period chriilianity made a rapid and exten- 
five progrefs, and its fuccefs was wholly owing to inftruclion 
fupported by argument and example. 

The next five centuries produced many pious and excellent 
preachers, both in the Latin and Greek churches. The doctrine, 
however, continued to degenerate, and the pulpit, along with all 
other inftitutes, degenerated with it, It is impoffible, in this 
fketch, to inveftigate particulars; we will juft take a curfory ge- 
neral view. 

The Greek pulpit was adorned with fome eloquent orators. 
Bafil, Bifhop of Caefarea, John Chryfoftom, preacher at Antioch, 
and afterwards patriarch (as he was called) of Conftantinople, 
and Gregory Nazianzen, who all flourifhed in the fourth centu- 
ry, feem to have led the fafhion of preaching in the Greek 
church. Jerom and Auguftine did the fame in the Latin church. 
Had the excellencies only of thefe great men been imitated by 
their contemporaries and fucceffors, the imitators would have 
been competent orators : but very far from able minifters of 
the New Teftament: but their very defects were adopted as pul- 
pit endowments. 

The Greeks called fermons Homilies^ that is, public difcourfes 
fpoken to the common people. (8) The Latins named them at firft 
trac7s } or treatifes, that is, public difcourfes in which fubjefts 
were ftated, argued, and thoroughly difcuffid ; afterward they 
called them fermons, or fpeeches, perhaps fome fermons were 
nothing more ! (9) 

Preaching was not originally afligned to any particular order 
of men ; but in this period the pulpit was thought worth inclo- 
fing, and monopolizers were ready to rent and improve it. Je- 
fus Chrift was of the tribe of Judah, of which tribe Mofes /pake 
nothing concerning priefthood : (I) yet it was his cuftomto read and 
expound in a fynagcgue every Sabbath day. (2) When Paul and 
Barnabas went into the \fyxcgogue at Antioch cn the Sabbath day and 
fat down, after the reading of the law and the prophets, the RU- 
LERS cfthefynagogue fent (S)tointreat them to preach, with which 

(8) Omilia ob omilos multitudo-vulgus-plebs. 
(q) Auguft. JraBatus'm Joan .— Gaudent. Brixiens. Epifc> 
TraMMs varii Victor iitic. Lib, i. Vincent. Lerin. 

t. xf. 

(i) Heb. vii, 14. (2) Luke iv. tj 3 16. (3) Ads xiiu 14, 15, 



on Public Preaching, 



xxix 



complaifant invitation Paul inftantly complied. When Chrif- 
tian affemblies firft met, all, who had ability, might preach one 
by one. (4) Yea, the very women under both ceconomies prophe- 
fied, that is, uttered in public the higheit ibrt of inftru&ion by 
preaching. The latter was prohibited by the apoftle of the 
Gentiles for excellent reafons : but it is yet fuppofed by fome 
chriftians to have been only a local or temporary prohibition. Let 
me have the honour of faying one word here, by way of apology 
for the preaching part of the fair fex. They revere the autho- 
rity of St Paul : but they understand him, with fome expofitors, 
in thatfenfe, which belt agrees w ith their inclination to pleafe 
the other fex by chatting. They fay, Gentlemen in lawns and 
gowns and hoods, and rings and roles and trinkets, clad in the 
attire, and difplaying the delicacy of ladies in the pulpit, excited 
in them a Strong prejudice in favour of female claim. They fay, 
a congregation confuting of twelve frequently contains ten of 
their fex, and where an unpenfioned majority, is for them, who 
fhall be againft them ! Befide, they are provoked to fpeak, for 
they are wearied with liftening year after year to what is not 
worth hearing. They add, they are able at all adventures, to 
put a prielt in petticoats to the biuih, by contracting their uiurpa- 
tions with his, as, for example, their harmlefs pulpit lectures with 
his grave definitions and investigations begun with a religious 
oath, and finilhed with a canonical curfe. W e have prated, fay 
they, but never perfecuted ; tattled nonfenfe, but fried no human 
blood: befide, to make a lady head of the church, and yet deny 
the fex the liberty of preaching to the members, is genuine recti- 
fied fpirit of myftery. 

To return. For fome time preaching was common to bifhops, 
elders, deacons, and private brethren in the primitive church ; in 
procefs, it was reftrained to the bifhop, and to fuch as he ihouid 
appoint. They called the appointment ordination, and at laft 
attached I know not what ideas of myftery and influence to the 
word, and of dominion to the bifhop, who pronounced it. The 
word ordain was originally equal to appoint, and if twenty chri- 
ftians nominated a man to inftrucl them once, the man was ap- 
pointed or ordained a preacher for the time. If they requested 
him to continue to inftrucT them, he was reputed to be ordained 
or appointed their minifter in future, as long as they pleated. 
Thefe nominations were accompanied with prayer, and Sometimes 
with the bleffing and good wifnes of the feniors, expreiied by 
the old cuftom of laying the hand upon the head. From thele 



(4) i Cor. xiv. 31. 

d2 



XXX 



A brief DiJJertation 



fimple tranfaclions came in procefs of time a longer train of ab- 
furdities than I have room to relate. (5) 

"When a bifhop or preacher travelled, he claimed no authority 
to exercife the duties of his function, unlefs he were invited by 
the churches, where he attended public worfhip. The primitive 
churches had no idea of a bifhop at Rome prefuming to dictate 
to a congregation in Africa Nothing, however, was more com- 
mon than fuch friendly vifits and fermons as were then in prac- 
tice* The churches thought them edifying. In cafe the bifhop 
were fick, or abfent, one of the deacons, (6) or fometimes a fhort- 
hand writer ufed to read a homily, that had been preached, and 
perhaps publifhed by fome good minifter, and fometimes a ho- 
mily, that had been preached by the bifhop of the church (7) 

We have great obligations to primitive notaries, for they very 
early addreffed themfelves to take down the homilies of public 
preachers. Sometimes the hearers employed them, fometimes 
the preachers, and fometimes themfelves. For this purpofe they 
carried writing tablets waxed, and ftyles, that is, pointed irons, 
or gravers, into the affembly, and flood round the preacher to re- 
cord what he faid. It was a character to a public fpeaker to be 
attended by thefe fcribes *, for primitive chriflians, never com- 
plaifant in matters of confcience, would not give themfelves the 
trouble of taking down the fermons of a patriarch, if they did 
not like his preaching. They fay no body would write after Atr 
ticus, patriarch of Conftantinople ; for, though he had a great 
name, he was accounted but an indifferent preacher. The peo- 
ple thought once hearing enough of all confcience for a bad fer- 
mon. From the labours of thefe men, we derive many a huge 
folio (8) 

What a multitude of not impertinent queflions might be afked 
here ! Can we afcertain the motives of all thefe writers?— Can 
we tell which are corrected copies ? — Is it quite fair to deter- 

(0 Orig, Horn. i. in Pfal. 37. — Hieron. Epift. ad Nep. — 
Chryfoft. Horn. Deincompreh. Deo. De Anathem. adv. Judseos e 
. — Eufeb. Hift. lib. vi. c. 19. — See Acls vi. 5. &c. xxi. 8. 

(6) Communio peregrina. Albafpin. Obf. Ecclefiaft. 1. i. 3. 
*~^Eufeb. v. 23.— Conftit. Apol. 1. ii. 62. 

(7) Synod Valens. Can. iv. Si quis epifcopus, vel prefbyter 
ob infirmitatem ipfe prsedicare non poflit, a diaconis in ecclefia 
npmilise patrum recttentur. — Affiftenti plebi eft per notarium 
expofitio recitata. Greg. M. in prolog. Homil. 

(8 ) Eufeb. lib. vi. 22.— Gaudent. Brix. Traclatus (xvii.) 
quern quorundam civium notarii exceperunt. — S030H1, Hift Lo 
yiii. 27.— Auguft. Serm. vi. de fan&iso 



On Public Preaching. 



xxxi 



mine the whole character of a preacher by one extempore efFu- 
fion ? — Were none of the writers in a hurry to get his own copy 
firft to market, and are the molt quick always the mod correct? 
— Are we fure the preacher fpoke clearly, and had no hoarfenefs, 
no cold, no impediment ? — Gan we anfwer for the writer's quick 
hearing, or the people's filence P Fathers have been quoted as 
fcripture : but fcripture was not taken thus. They have « been 
alledged in proof of every thing, and well they might! If the 
populace then refembled the populace now, the molt nonfenfical 
fermons were the molt faleable. 

The deacons placed themfelves round the pulpit, and before 
fermon one of them cried with a loud voice. Silence — bearken—— 
or.fomething fimihr. This was repeated often, if neceffaryj I 
fuppofe at proper paufes, when the preacher (topped. (9) Their 
manners were different from ours : but really our manners want 
fome of their cuftoms. It might do fome drowfy folks good to 
be alarmed every five or ten minutes with — Mind what you are 
about — Let us hften — Attend to the word of God. 

Some affirm, that all the primitive bifhops preached in a gown, 
or a furplice, or a fomethingj which Eufebius calls, petalon, 
and which he fays, S. John being a prieft wore. Had S. John 
thought petalon neceflary to a good fermon, he would have 
left in his writings fome direction how God, who enjoined 
it, chofe to have it made. The directions of Mofes for the ha- 
bits of Aaron are fo plain, that any habit-maker could work by 
them to this day : but as for the apoflle's petalon, we know 
nothing about it. Eufebius picked up a fcrap of a letter of one 
Poiycrates, there he found petalon, and there we leave it. It is 
not improbable, that fome good preachers might not have clothes 
fit to appear in, efpecially the itinerant brethren, fuch as the a- 
poftles, and others after them, who travelled and preached. 
Would it be wonderful, if a congregation had kept a decent clean 
habit, that would cover all, for the ufe of fuch poor men as came 
among them! The furplice was copied from the Jewifh worlhip, 
and was ordered to be worn by all, who officiated in facred things: 
but this was in the latter part of this period, when preachers were 
become prielts in name, and princes in fa£t. 

The fathers differed much in pulpit a£tion, the greater part 
ufed very moderate and fober gefture. Paul of Samofata ufed 
to {tamp with his foot, and itrike his thigh with his hand, and 
throw himfelf into violent agitations : but he was blamed for it 
Jbyhis contemporaries. (I) They thought his a£tiontheatrical, and 

(#) Chryfofte Horn. A£t. xix.— Clem. Conftit. Apol. viii. 15. 
(1) Eufeb, vii. 29. 



A brief Dijertaiion 



improper in a churchy and yet in every church the people were 
allowed and even exhorted to applaud the preacher by fhouting 
and clapping their hands at the ciofe of the period, as at the the- 
atre, or in the forum. The firft preachers delivered their fer- 
mons all extempore, and they ftudied, while they preached, the 
countenances of their auditors, to fee whether the doctrine were 
underftood. The people endeavoured to exprefs their fentiments, 
molt likely at firft by a look, a nod, a fhake of the head, or a 
lifting of the hand. At length this rofe up to loud acclamations 
and clappings j and the preachers perceiving the abufe preached 
it down. (2) 

Paul of Samofata ufed to fcold at the people, when they did 
not fhout and applaud him. It happened often their applaufe 
was no praife. Ihey applauded what they did not underftand. 
Auftin one day propofed a queftion to himfelf to anfwer in 
preaching. The anlwer might have deferved applaufe had he 
given it: but the congregation fell a fhouting at the queftion, 
before they knew whether he could anfwer it properly. . . . 
Hey-day — faid he — what are you praiftng ? Do you know what I 
was faying? . . / only propo/ed a queftion, and you go to clapping 
and fldouting ? Jerom tells us, he once afked his tutor, Gregory 
Nazianzen, what S. Luke meant by deuteroproion, (the fe- 
cond fabbath after the firfl. Luke vi. I. J Gregory replied, " I will 
tell you to-morrow, when I am preaching in the church. "When 
all the congregation are fhouting and clapping their hands, you 
will be obliged to profefs to underftand what I fay, though you 
do not comprehend it, for if you do not clap your hands and 
fhout too, they will all condemn you for a fool. (3) 

Sermons in thofe days were all in the vulgar tongue. The 
Greeks preached in Greek, the Latins in Latin, for the preachers 
meant to be underftood. They did not preach by the clock (io 
to fpeak.) but were fhort or long as they faw occafion. Auguftine 
ufed to leave off when the people's hearts feemed properly af- 
fected with the fubjecl. He judged of this fometimes by their 
fhouting, and at other times by their tears. Their fermons were 
ufuaJiv about an hour long : but many of them may be deliber- 
ately pronounced in half an hour, and feveral in lefs time, (4) 

Sermons were generally both preached and heard ftanding : 
but fometimes both fpeaker and auditors fat, efpecially the aged 
and infirm. Their methods were on fome occafions what we 

(a) Jer. ad Nep. 2. Aug. Civ. Dei. 1. iv. c. 16. 24. ChryfofL 
Horn, in A£t. xxxvih. In Act. iii. Ad pop. Ant. xxxviii. 
(3) Hieron. ad Nep. 2. (4) S. Bafil. Orat. in S. Bapt. 



cn Public Preaching, 



call expounding from feveral verfes, on others preaching from a 
fingle pafTage In many things they imitated the Jews, by adapt- 
ing parts of fcripture to particular feafons, and hence in time 
came the appointment of felect portions for Eafter, "Whitfun- 
tide, and other feftivals. The Jews read in their fynagogues 
Ruth at Pentecoft, Ecclefiaftes at the feaft of Tabernacles, and 
Solomon's Song at the Paffover. The fathers were fond of alle- 
gory, for Origen, that everlafting ailegorizer, had fet them the 
example. I hope they had better proofs of the canonicalnefs of 
Solomon's Song than I have had the pleafure of feeing. In ge- 
neral, their fermon' s were paraphraftical, regular and textual, 
going from pfalm to pfalm, from chapter to chapter, through 
whole books : but they made no fcruple, when occafion offered, 
to defer the regular fubje£fc, and to choofe a text on the fpot, 
fuited to any cafe, that happened even after they were in the 
aflembly, yea after they had afcended the pulpit, and even after 
they had read the text. (5) It mould feem the preacher either 
held the holy fcripture in his hand, or had it lying before him 
on the defk. Before preaching he ufually went into a veftry to 
pray, and afterward to fpeak to fuch as came to falute him. He 
prayed with his eyes (hut in the pulpit immediately before 
preaching, and often in difficult parts of his fermon while he de- 
livered it. The firfl word the preacher uttered to the people 
when he afcended the pulpit was — '< Peace be with you, or 
The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the love of God, and the 
feilowfhip of the Holy Ghoft be with you all," to which the 
affembly at firfl added Amen, and in after times they anfwered, 
And with thy fpirit. 

Moft of the fermons of thefe days are divifible into three ge- 
neral parts. The firfl is a Ihort introduction, the fecond an ex- 
pedition of the text, and the laft a moral exhortation arifing out 
of the difcuffion. After fermon the fpeaker defcended, and 
prayed at the communion table, on which the good people laid 
their alms for the poor. Funeral fermons were frequent, and, 
through the imprudent ufe of rhetorical figures, hurtful in the 
iffue to the doctrine of pure chriflianity. Some bimops preached 
every day during Lent, fome twice a day, others twice a week. 
Some delivered evening lectures, and all preached on the Lord's 
day, the firfl day of the week. 

In this period many noble places of worlhip were built. The 
old Jewiih temple was the original, the reft were all taken from 

(5) Chryfoft, apud Socrat. lib. vi e cap. 3. Auguft de Civ. 
Dei. xxii. 8. 



xxxiv 



A brief Dijfertation 



it. We have felt the mifery of abridging all along : but here it 
will be lefs obfcure to omit than to abridge. Let it, then, fuffice 
to obferve, that a cathedral was an imitation of the temple, and 
a village place of worfhip of a fynagogue. Hence the idea of a 
holy end for an altar and a circle of priefts, and an unhallowed 
end for the common people. Hence the divifions of porches, 
choirs, chancels, and fo on, anfwering to the courts of the temple. 
The ambo, or pulpit, was in the choir. Some were portable, 
and very plain ; others fixtures, ftretching out lengthwife, fo 
that the preacher might walk up and down in them ; fome had 
feats and curtains, others were adorned with gold and filver, and 
refembled the thrones of princes more than fcaffold's for the con- 
venience of chriftian minifters. So fays Eufebius, cenfuring the 
vanity of Paul of Samofata. Hence came our modern cathedrals 
and parifh churches, our choirs, and altars, and flails, and 
thrones in places of worfliip. Many of our churches and chapels 
are very inconvenient to preach in. They were not erected for 
fchools of inftru£tion: but for faying mafs and facrificing, and 
where the pulpit mould be there ftands an old table covered with 
finery, and called an altar. In many places, the prieft preaches 
from the middle of a fide wall, or a pillar, to the backs and moul- 
ders of his audience, for the pews were placed with a view to 
the altar, where formerly brother Mumpfimus ufed to play tricks, 
and not to the pulpit, where now a wife and good minifter ftands 
and preaches to a people, in fearch, it fhould feem by their look- 
ing to the old fpot, for their former guides. How long fhall we 
facrifice manly advantages to puerile popifli baubles ! 

Degenerate as thefe days were, compared with thofe of the 
apoftles, they were golden ages in comparison with the times 
that followed. Some taught what they called poftive theology^ 
that is to fay, compilations of theological opinions, collected 
from fcripture, and fathers, and councils. Others went into 
fcholajlical divinity, that is, confufed and metaphyfical reafonings, 
by which they pretended to explain the doctrines of religion. A 
third fort were all taken up with contemplations and inward feel- 
ings, and their divinity was myflicifm. Even thefe were prefer- 
able to others, who read the categories of Ariftotle, or the life 
of a faint, in the church, inftead of a fermon, and who turned 
the church, I will not fay into a theatre, but into a booth at a. 
country fair. The pulpit became a ftage, where ludicrous priefts 
obtained the vulgar laugh by the loweft kind of dirty wit, efpeci- 
ally at the feftivals of Chriftmas and Eafter One of our old hi- 
llorians fays, The devil was fotleafed with the preachers of the ele- 



on Public Preaching* 



XXXV 



menth century, that he fent them a letter of thanks from hell for the 
advantages, which his kingdom derived from their pulpits. (6) 

Were I to attempt a hiftory of any one chriftian ordinance, as 
of finging, prayer, preaching, baptifm, and fo on, I would take 
the old teftament hiftory of the church for my model. The true 
church of God is the object in contemplation, this is followed 
from family to family, from country to country, through Egypt, 
Babylon, Ifrael, and Judah. The ten tribes, called Ifrael, go off 
at a certain period, and are abfolutely loft to all future hiftorians. 
The facred writers were not compiling a hiftory of Ifrael : but 
a hiftory of the religion in Ifrael j and when Ifrael apoftatized, 
the hiftorians left them, and followed religion. On this princi- 
ple, I {hould quit the beaten road of what is called church hiftory, 
and fhould go into the hiftories of Paulicians, Albigenfes, Wal- 
denfes, Fegbards, and other reputed heretics under persecution^ 
and there perhaps I might find what I fought, the ordinance in 
queftion in its native purity. Popes and councils, and fecular 
churchmen, fhould only appear incidentally, juft as Amalekites 
and other troops of banditti in Jewifh hiftory, coming up at har- 
veft time to rob the good people of their corn. (7) What care I 
where apoftates hold a council, or who prefides there, or what 
they quarrel about ? What is it to me who ordained this fuper~ 
ftition, or who introduced that ? All may be entertaining and cu- 
rious : but it is not a hiftory of the church. Modern papifts con- 
fider the reformation as a herefy and a fchifm, and with much 
greater reafon may we confider their corporation in the fame* 
light. 

To apply this to our fubjecl:. Suppofe we were writing an 
accurate hiftory of the miniftration of the divine word by public 
preaching, we fhould trace the fubject till we came to a period 
where legends, politics, and fuperftitions were publicly preached . 
Should we continue to purfue the domineering party, we mould 
be obliged to write a hiftory, then, of the public preaching of 
errors : but we ought to be writing a hiftory of preaching the di- 
vine word, and confequently our plan would oblige us to go oft 
with the people, who continued to preach it after it was difcard- 
ed. 

This track is more neceffary in a hiftory of preaching to be 
purfued, than in a hiftory of baptifm, or any other fingie ordi- 

(6) Guliel. Malmefburiens. lib. hi. 9. 
(7) Judges vi. <f So it was, when Ifrael had fown, — that the 
children of the eaft came up againft them,— they and their camels 
without number, — and deftroyed the increafe of the earth,—- 
and left no fuftenance for Ifrael,'' 

e 



xxxvi 



A brief Differtation 



nance; for the word of God was originally given for a ftandard 
of faith and practice ; where this ftandard has been preferred, 
their faith and practice have been in general kept pure, and where 
other ftandards have been fet up, although fome one ordinance 
may have been preferved pure, (which by the way has not been 
the cafe) yet it muft have been an accidental, and not a confti- 
tutional purity, and fo of little value to purity, and of none to 
the hiftory of it. Pulpits are public tell-tales, and a fenfelefs 
tale they tell, when they are the mouth of a faction ! A collec- 
tion and repetition of thefe tales is not a hiftory of the miniftra- 

tion of THE DIVINE WORD. 

All our divines affirm, all our hiftorians prove, and the church 
of Rome does not deny, that there have been from the days of 
the apoftles various dissenters from all eftabliflied corporations 
called churches. They have been loaded with innumerable ca- 
lumnies, recorded under odious names, taxed with holding detef- 
table errors, and branded with public infamy : but, at the refor- 
mation, thefe diflenters were traced, brought out of obfcurity, 
warned and new clothed, and produced as evidences upon the tri- 
al of the queftion, Where was your church before Luther? 

I have feen enough to convince me, that theprefent Englifli 
Diflenters, contending for the fufficiency of fcripture, and for 
primitive chriftian liberty to judge of its meaning, may be traced 
back in authentic manufcripts to the Non-conformifts, to the Pu- 
ritans, to the Lollards, to the Vallenfes, to the Albigenfes, and 
I fufpe£t through the Paulicians, and others to the Apoftles. 
Thefe churches had fometimes a clandeftine exiftence, and at o- 
ther times a vifible, I wifh I could fay a legal one : but at all times 
they held more truth, and lefs error than the prevailing factions, 
that perfecuted them* One branch uniformly denied the baptifm 
of infants, all allowed chriftian liberty, and all were enemies to 
an eftabliflied hierarchy reigning over the confciences of their 
brethren, I have now before me a manufcript regifter of Gray 
bifhop of Ely, which proves, that in the year 1457, there was a 
congregation of this fort in this village, Chefterton, where I live, 
who privately aflembled for divine worfliip, and had preachers 
of their own, who taught them the very doctrine, which now 
we preach. Six of them were accufed of herefy before the ty» 
rant of the diftricl:, and condemned to abjure herefy, and to do 
pennance, half naked, with a faggot at their backs, and a taper 
in their hands, \n the public market places of Ely, and Cambridge, 
and in the church-yard of Great SwafFham. It was a pity the 
poor fouls were forced to abjure the twelfth article of their ac« 



on Public Preaching, 



xxxvii 



ciifation, in which they are faid to have affirmed, All priefts, and 
people in orders , are incarnate devils! (8) 

A hundred fuch inftances may be produced, a thousand curi- 
ous anecdotes of the manners of our anceftors, of their language, 
books, utenfils, habits, reafoning, and rhetoric, might incident- 
ally furnifh amufement and inftrucHon to us, and nothing 
would be found eafier to induftry, than to connect their eccle- 
fiaftical ceconomy with that of the above-mentioned anteluther- 
an proteftants. We are far from juftifying their miftakes, and 
approving in the grols ; but we know popish records are everlaft- 
ing calumnies, and the hiftory of the chrijlian pulpit is among the 
people, whom they calumniate. 

I fee a thoufand benefits arifing to religion at large from the 
purfuit of this method, and I will venture to name one. It is 
generally allowed, that toleration is a high excellence in a 
fyftem of civil polity, and that chriftian liberty in the church 
is analogous to it: but it is almoft as generally fuppofed, that 
our anceftors were all ignorant of it, and that Sidney, Milton, 
Locke, and others of our late philofophers and ftatefmen, firfl 
inculcated thefe laws of humanity, and incorporated what we 
have of them into our modern conftitutions. What if we could 
prove, that Jefus Chrift, whofe profeffion was theology, taught 
the do&rine of chriftian liberty, and that he only taught in a 
clearer manner what had from the days of Enoch been held 
and taught in the primitive pulpits ! What if we could prove, 
that from the days of the apoftles, the moft tolerant of man- 
kind, the dodtrine had been actually believed, taught and ex- 
emplified in every age till the reformation! What if we could 
prove, that the generous toleration of modern ftates was only 
the doctrine of chriftian liberty applied to fecular affairs, and 
flood exactly in the fame predicament in a treatife of govern- 
ment as natural religion ftands in a fyftem of modern theology, 
that is, a firft principle of human felicity, difcoverable by rea- 
fon: but elucidated and improved by revelation! What if we 
could afcertain by good records, that difference in religious fen- 
timents and practices made no difference in^civil rights and mutu- 
al efteem among whole feels and parties! What if we could fhew 
that religious uniformity was an illegitimate brat of the mother 

(8) Art. XII. Item, quod papa eft antichriftus, et facer- 
dotes funt ejus difcipuli, et omnes ordinati funt diaboli incar- 

na ti. Xl. Item, quod, extrema un£tio, anglice greyfyng % 

minime profieit. III. Item, quod, puer nec egeat, 

nec baptizari debeat, &c &c— Reg, Elienf, Gul. Gray. 
3MSS. 

e 2 



xxxviii 



A brief Bijfertatton 



of harlots, and nothing akin to the Son of God ! What if 
we could infer . . . Profperity and peace be with a- 
ny inveftigator ! Alas! I mull quit reveries, and go this af- 
ternoon to vifit the fick, and preach in the evening to a part of 
my flock. 

Before I go, however, I will finim this article by a remark, 
which will prove, I think, that this is not all reverie. The 
thirteenth article, objected againft the forementioned Chefterton 
culprits, by the bifhop, in his confiftory at Downham, is this, 
s< Alfo, you affirm, that every man may be called a church of 
God, fo that if any one of you mould be fummoned before his 
ecclefiaftical judge, and mould happen to be aiked this queftion $ 
Do you believe in the church? he may fafely anfwer, he does, 
meaning that he believes in the church, becaufe he believes 
the church is in every man, who is a temple of God (9)." Now 
is not this affirming, that every good man was bound to fol- 
low his own judgment in religious matters, and not to be fet 
down by the opinions of a domineering faction, calling them-* 
felves, the church? Is a man ftrong for being called Samfon, or 
wife for naming himfelf Solomon ? Does it not mean, that eve- 
ry man had as much right of judging in himfelf folely as the 
whole community had collectively ? "We could go further and 
prove that thefe fix men altho' all in one community, did not all 
hold the fame articles, fome agreed to one, fome to another/ but 
they all, the regifler fays, affirmed this thirteenth article. Does 
not this prove that their ecclefiaftical ceconomy allowed chriftian 
liberty, and that they held a mixt communion ? ; ' • , But I 
muft go. 

To return. The glorious reformation was the offspring of 
preaching, by which mankind were informed, there was a ftan- 
dard, and the religion of the times was put to trial by it. The 
avidity of the common people to read fcripture, and to hear it 
expounded, was wonderful, and the papifts were fp fully con- 
vinced of the benefit of frequent public inftru£tion, that they, 
who were juftly called unpreaching prelates, and whofe pulpits, 
to ufe an expreffion of Latimer, had been bells without clappers for 
many a long year, were obliged for fhame to fet up regulay 
preaching again. 

(9) Item, Quod quilibet homo dicitur eccla Dei, adeo 
quod fi quanquam illorum coram judice ecclefiaftico evoca- 
turn ad hanc queftionem refpondere contingeret, an in eccla 
credis, tute tunc refpondere poffet quod fic, per hoc intelligent, 
quod in eccla credit, quia in homine qui eft templum Dei — - ■ 
MSS. Ubi fupra. 



on Public Preaching. 



xxxix 



The church of Rome has produced fome great preachers, fince 
the reformation ; but not equal to the reformed preachers : and 
a queftion naturally arifes here, which it would be unpardonable 
to pafs over in filence, concerning the lingular effect of the preach- 
ing of the reformed, which was general, national, univerfal re- 
formation. 

In the darkeft times of popery there had arifen now and then 
fome famous popular preachers, who had zealoufly inveighed 
againft the vices of their times, and whofe fermons had produced 
fudden and amazing effects on their auditors : but all thefe ef- 
fects had died away with the preachers, who produced them, 
and all things had gone back into the old Hate. Law, learning, 
commerce, fociety at large had not been improved. Here a new 
fcene opens, preachers arife lefs popular, perhaps lefs indefati- 
gable and exemplary, their fermons produce lefs linking imme- 
diate effects, and yet their auditors go away and agree by whole 
nations to reform. 

Jerom Savonarola, Jerom Narni, Capiftran, Conne&e, and 
many others had produced by their fermons great immediate ef- 
forts. "When Conne£te preached, the ladies lowered their head- 
dreffes, and committed quilled caps by hundreds to the flames. 
When Narni taught the populace in Lent from the pulpits of 
Rome, half the city went from his fermons crying along the 
ftreets, Lord have mercy upon us, Chrijl have mercy upon us, fo 
that in only one paflion week two thoufand crowns worth of 
ropes were fold to make fcourges with ; and when he preached 
before the pope to cardinals and bifhops, and painted the crime 
of non-refidence in its own colours, he frightened thirty or forty 
bilhops, who heard him, inftantly home to their diocefes. In 
the pulpit of the univerfity of Salamanca he induced eight hun- 
dred ftudents to quit all worldly profpe&s of honour, riches, and 
pleafure, and to become penitents in divers monafteries. Some 
of this clafs were martyrs too. We know the fate of Savonarola, 
and more might be added : but all lamented the momentary du- 
ration of the effects produced by their labours. Narni himfelf 
was fo difgufted with his office, that he renounced preaching, 
and (hut himfelf up in his cell to mourn over his irreclaimable 
contemporaries, for bilhopswent back to court, and ropemakers 
lay idle again. 

Our reformers taught all the good doctrines, which had been 
taught by thefe men, and they added two or three more, by 
which they laid the ax to the root of apoftacy, and produced 
general reformation. Inftead of appealing to popes, and canons, 
and founders, and fathers, they only quoted them, and referred 



A brief Dijfertatton 



their auditors to the holy fcriptures for law. Pope Leo X. did 
not know this, when he told Prierio, who complained of Luther's 
herefy, Friar Martin had a fine genius ! They alfo taught the 
people what little they knew of chrifiian liberty and fo led them 
into a belief that they might follow their own ideas inj-eligion 
without the confent of a confeflbr, a diocefan, a pope, or a coun- 
cil. They went further, and laid the ftrefs of all religion on 
juftifying faith' This obliged the people to get acquainted with 
Chrift the object of their faith, and thus they were led into the 
knowledge of a character altogether different from what they 
faw in their old guides, a character, which it is impoflible to 
know, and not to admire and imitate. The old papal popular 
fermons had gone off like a charge of gunpowder, producing 
only a fright, a buftle, and a black face : but thofe of the newe 
learningey as the monks called them, were fmall hearty feeds, 
which, being fown in the honefl hearts of the multitude, and 
watered with the dew of heaven, foftly vegetated, and imper- 
ceptibly unfolded bloffoms and fruits of ineftimable value, 

Thefe eminent fervants of Chrift excelled in various talents, 
both in the pulpit, and in private. Knox came down like a 
thunder-ftorm, Calvin refembled a whole day's fet rain, Beza was 
a {hower of the fofteft dew. Old Latimer in a coarfe frieze 
gown trudged a foot, his teftament hanging at one end of his 
leathern girdle, and his fpe&acles at the other, and without ce- 
remony inftru&ed the people in ruftic ftyle from a hollow tree ; 
while the courtly Ridley in fattin and fur taught the fame prin- 
ciples in the cathedral of the metropolis. Cranmer, though a 
timorous man, ventured to give the moft powerful and lafcivi- 
ous tyrant of his time a new teftament with the label, whore- 
mongers and adulterers God will judge; while Knox, who faid, 
there was nothing in the pleafant face of a lady to affray him, allured 
the Queen of Scots, that, " if there were any ipark of the fpirit 
of God, yea of honefty or wifdom in her, fhe would not be of- 
fended with his affirming in his fermons, that the diverfions of 
her court were diabolical crimes, evidence of impiety or inianity." 
Thefe men were not all accomplifhed fcholars: but they all gave 
proof enough, that they were honeft, hearty, and difmterefted 
in the caufe of religion -> and to thefe, and not to literary quali- 
fications, all were indebted for popularity in the pulpit and pub- 
lic confidence out of it. Happy had it been for fucceeding ages 
had they been trufted lefs ! 

All Europe produced great and excellent preachers, and 
fome of the more ftudious and fedate reduced their art of public 
preaching to a fyftem, and taught rules of a good fermon. Bi- 



cn Public Preaching* x\i 

fhop Wilkins enumerated in 1646 upwards of fixty, who had 
written on the fubje£t. I have endeavoured to procure a fight 
of all their books : but fome few I have not been fo happy as to 
find. Several of what I have feen are valuable treatifes, full of 
edifying inftru&ions 5 moft of them are very fmall: but all, I 
think, are on a fcale too large, and by affe&ing to treat of the 
whole office of a minifter, leave that capital branch, public 
preaching, unfinifhed and vague. 

One of the moft important articles of pulpit fcience, that, 
which gives life and energy to all the reft, and without which 
all the reft are nothing but a vain parade, is either neglected or 
exploded in all thefe treatifes. It is eflential to the miniftra- 
tion of the divine word by public preaching, that preachers be 
allowed to form principles of their own, and that their fermons 
\ contain their real fentiments, the fruits of their own intenfe 
thought and meditation. Preaching cannot be in a good {late, 
in thofe communities, where the fhameful traffick of buying and 
felling manufcript fermons is carried on. Moreover, all the ani- 
mating encouragements, that arife from a free unbiaffed choice 
of the people, and from their uncontaminated difinterefted ap- 
plaufe, mould be left open to ftimulate a generous youth to ex- 
cel. Command a man to utter what he has no inclination to 
propogate, and what he does not even believe, threaten him at 
the fame time with all the miferies of life, if he dare to follow 
his own ideas, and to promulge his own fentiments, and you 
pafs a fentence of death on all he fays. He does declaim : but 
all is languid and cold, and he lays his fyftem out as an under- 
taker does the dead. Inftead of referring him to thofe, who 
deal moft in religion, and therefore beft underftand the value of 
every thing in it, the people I mean, give him to underftand, 
that even their confent to be taught by him is not neceflary to be 
obtained, and you inftantly turn his eye from his bible, his peo- 
ple, and his God, and fix it on the feat of a patron, who mud 
be approached by a circle of collufion and intrigue. 

Thefe books confider the pulpit as the religious tribunal of 
the civil magistrate, preachers as fervants of the crown, and 
preaching as a human art, a branch of rhetoric to be taught in 
the fchools. In one thing they made it different from all other 
forts and fciences, thefe they confidered as capable of improve- 
ment : but that they pretended was in a ftate of abfolute perfec- 
tion. Other fciences they left open, and would have laughed at a 
propofal to admit every future youth to ftudy philofophy by 
fwearing him to believe and maintain the ideas of Plato, to live 
in the faith and to die in the comfort of the fpeculations of C:- 



A brief DiJJertatwn 



cero, or the categories of Ariftotle : but this fcience, religion* 
this, they faid, an inhuman reprobate had begun, a fickly child 
improved, and a female tyrant completely finifhed off. (1) This 
was going beyond a Caefar, who thought nihil aclum dum aliquid 
agendum, yea beyond an apoftle, who exclaimed to his followers 
leaving rudiments let us go on unto perfeclion. Brethren, be ye fol- 
lowers of me. I count not myfelf to have apprehended : but this on- 
ly have I attained, forgetting thofe things which are behind, and 
reaching forth unto thofe things, which are before, I prefs toward 
the mark, for the prize of the high-calling of God in Chrift Jefus.{i) 

This is the place, where, would our limits allow it, we mould 
take our ftand, and reconnoitre the reformed pulpit : but it fhall 
fuffice to obferve, that in all the reformed countries the pulpit 
was taken into the fervice of the ftate, and became a kind of at- 
torney or folicitor-general retained to plead for the crown. The 
proof of this lies in the articles, canons and injunctions, which 
were girded on the clergy of thofe times, and how thoroughly 
the ftate clergy have underftood this to be the true condition of 
the pulpit, their fermons will abundantly prove. The beft ftate 
inftructions to preachers were given in the Directory by the 
aflembly of divines : but even thefe include the great, the fatal 
error, the fubjection of God's word to human law. If, when 
all other inftitutes were taken into the fervice of the ftate, the 
pulpit had efcaped, it would have been wonderful indeed : but, 
if the pulpit be a place, and the preacher ^pendoner, in the name 
of common fenfe, what are we to expect from both ! 

From this fad conftitution we derive the lifelefsnefs of later 
preaching. The ill fated youth before he is aware finds him- 
felf bound to teach the opinions of a fet of minifters, who lived 
two hundred years before he was born. His mafters believed 
their own articles, and therefore preached them with zeal : but 
it would be unreafonable to expecl; a like zeal in him for the 
fame doctrines, for he does not know what they are, or, having 
examined them, he does not think them true, and thus fub- 
fcription to other men's creeds becomes the death of good 
preaching. 

(1) " Tu Elifabetha operi ab Henrico parenti feliciter inchoata t 
ab Edwardo fratre in immenfum aublo, coronidem jam confum- 
mato imponeres. . . Pater incepit .... adolefcens 
promovit . . . . filia abfolvitf Epi/I. Synod. Elizabet. Reg* 
Dat« Sueca ex Frijiorum cppido, ex Synodo 22 Apr His 1587. Fris* 
occ'td. 

(2) Heb vi. u Phil. iii. 13, 14. 17, 



A brief Difertation, Sec, xliii 

"With thefe principles I went about the following work, and 
for thefe reafons I have all through endeavoured to poffefs the 
mind of the candidate for the pulpit, with an abhorrence of do- 
minion over confeience, and to excite him to enter into that reli- 
gious liberty of thinking and acting, with which chriftianity hath 
made him free. 

There were at the reformation a great number of wife and 
good men, who thought the revival of primitive chriftianity 
only begun at that period, and they endeavoured, though under 
great difadvantages, to improve thefe beginnings, and to go 
on unto perfection. Others have fucceeded them, and entered 
into their pious views with difintereftednefs and fuccefs. A- 
mong thefe the Englifh proteftant dhTenters ftand firll in me- 
rit; and, as their congregations are conftitutionally in poffeffion of - 
chriftian liberty, they have produced fome of the greateft preach- 
ers in the world. It would be eafy to give a long lift of names 
from the dawn of the reformation to this day ; but I facrifice 
the pleafure of doing fo to the modefty of my friends. This, 
however, I will venture to fay, and no man Jhall ftop me of this 
boafting, we have in our churches now exacl: copies of our ancient 
models. The prophets , do they live for ever ? Yes, they do ! 
The fpirit of Elijah refts upon Elijha ! The grave folidity of Cart- 
wright and Jacob feemed to refide in Owens and Goodwins and 
Gills. The vivacity of Watts and Bradbury and Earle lives in 
others, whom I dare not name. The patient laborious Fox, the 
filver Bates, the melting Baxter, the piercing Mead, the generous 
Williams, the inftru&ive Henry, the foft and candid Doddridge, 
Ridgley, and Gale, and Bunyan, and Burgefs, in all their va- 
riegated beauties yet flourifh in our pulpits, exercifing their dif- 
ferent talents for mutual edification. We have Barnabas the 
fon of confolation, and Boanerges the thunderer ftill. Ye fer- 
vants of the moft high God, who fhew unto us the way of - fa!- 
vation! Peace he within the walls of your churches, and profperity 
^within your . . . dwelling-houfes. . . You have no 
palaces, you need none, palaces can add nothing to you. 

Chesterton, 7 
May, 19,1779. \ 

t 



THE 



LIFE 

OP 

MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 

THE great and good Mr John Claude, author 
of the following Essay, is in general so well 
known, that it may seem needless to relate his 
history, I cannot, however, deny myself the 
pleasure of recounting a few of the memorable 
actions of this eminent servant of God. In them, 
I flatter myself, my readers will find an apo- 
logy sufficient at least to excuse the following 
short sketch of the man and his conversation. 
Encomiums given him by divines are innumer- 
able: but such men as he merit more than hu- 
man applause hath to bestow. ( 1 ) 

Calvin and Beza, both natives of France, 
had introduced the reformation into their coun- 
try in the sixteenth century; and the doctrines 
of Calvinism, along with the discipline of pres- 
byterianism, were generally embraced by the 
French protestants. It is somewhat remarkable, 
that the reformed church in France was the 
most powerfully supported of any, and yet of 
all others the most barbarously persecuted; for, 

(i) Dubito, an recentiori aetate aliquem majori omnes profe- 
quuti fint veneratione quam Jcannem Claudium. BuJdeus, 
Vid. etiam. Bayle— Mofiiem— A8. Lips.— Vie de Claude — cum 
multis aliis. 



2 THE LIFE OF 

during five successive reigns, the protestant re- 
ligion was professed by many of the royal 
family, and by numbers of the nobility, and yet 
ail its just claims were consumed with an inex- 
tinguishable rage of persecution. 

It was in the year 1598, soon after the acces- 
sion of Henry IV. that the reformed obtained, by 
an edict drawn up at Nantz, entire liberty of 
conscience, a free admission to all employments 
of trust, honour and profit, the use of churches, 
and universities, the liberty of holding synods, 
and whatever else was then thought necessary to 
the security of their civil and religious rights. 

While the churches enjoyed these privileges, 
the Rev. Francis Claude, father of our Author, 
was successively pastor of several reformed con- 
gregations in Lower Guienne, and was univer- 
sally esteemed for the pious and honourable man- 
ner, in which he discharged his office. John 
was born at Sauvetat in 1618; his father, who 
was a lover of polite literature, took care of his 
education during his youth; and at a proper 
time sent him to Montauban to finish his studies. 
Having accomplished his course of philosophy, 
he applied himself to the study of divinity un- 
der professors Garrisoles, and Charles. The fire 
of his imagination, the acutenessof his judgment, 
the sincere piety of his life, and particularly the 
modesty and affability of his manners, obtained 
him as many friends as tutors. In him, from his 
earliest years, were united the gravity of a di- 
vine, and the easy politeness of a courtier. 

Claude, the father, happy beyond expression 
in his son, was eager to see him in the sanctu- 
ary. The son, whose whole soul was bent on 
the ministry, and who could deny such a parent 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 3 
nothing, sunk his own desire of visiting other 
universities in the superior pleasure of gratifying 
the good old man. He had set his heart on ordain- 
ing his son, and the synod of Upper Languedoc, 
after they had examined, and fully approved of 
young Claude, nominated his father to ordain 
him to the church at La Treyne, He performed 
this office with unspeakable satisfaction, being 
now at the summit of his ambition : and died 
soon after, in the seventy fourth year of his age. 

Mr Claude served this church only one year; 
for the Synod appointed him to succeed Mr 
Martel, in the church of St Afrique in Rovergue. 
Here he devoted much of his time to study, (for 
the church was not large,) and his profiting ap- 
peared to all. It was soon observed, that he 
preached with great facility. His genius quickly 
collected materials, his judgment presently as- 
sorted and arranged them, his language was flu- 
ent, easy, just and manly, and his auditors de- 
clared, they could not distinguish in hearing him 
what he spoke extempore from what he had 
written. 

About two years after he had resided at St 
Afrique, he was desired to preach an occasional 
sermon at Castres. This church had the ho- 
nour of possessing the officers of the chamber 
of the Edict of Nantz, and a great number of 
other persons of quality and learning. The 
whole auditory was filled with admiration of his 
sermon, and so deep an impression did it make 
on them, that, as they wanted a minister, they 
endeavoured to obtain Mr Claude : but provi- 
dence had designed him for another place. The 
church, however, acquired a kind of right in Mr 
Claude, by giving him one of the most amiable 



4 THE LIFE OF 

of their members for a wife. Here he married 
Miss Elizabeth deMalecare, whose father was an 
advocate in parliament. By her he had one son 
born 1653, and named Isaac. Eight years Mr 
Claude served the church of St Afrique, greatly 
esteemed by his people, known and sought after 
by several other churches, and very much ho- 
noured by the Synod of Upper Languedoc, at 
which he was annually present. 

The church of Nismes, which was one of the 
most conspicuous in France, being in want of a 
minister, applied to Mr Claude, who agreeably 
to the advice of his brethren, complied with their 
request, and was appointed pastor of this large 
congregation by the Synod of Upper Languedoc. 
The service of this church was very great. 
Preaching every day, visiting a great number of 
sick people, attending consistories, and church- 
business, required much labour : but Mr Claude 
loved this kind of employment, and so discharg- 
ed his office as to give the highest satisfaction 
to his flock. He found time, moreover, to give 
divinity-lectures to a great number of students, 
who were admitted to make probationary ser- 
mons ; and from this private school proceeded 
disciples of great merit, who accredited the 
master, from whom they received their in- 
structions. 

Mr Claude's great reputation excited the envy 
and jealousy of the episcopal clergy, whose ha- 
tred of him grew with the growth of his useful* 
ness, and at length outgrew all decency. They 
watched for an opportunity to get rid of him, 
and they soon found one, that served their pur- 
pose. But, before we relate the removal of Mr 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 5 
Claude, it will be proper to describe the then 
present general posture of affairs. 

When the first reformers claimed a right of 
private judgment in matters of religion, they 
claimed it of domineering prelates, who both 
denied the equity of the claim, and held the 
murdering of the claimants to be a part of re- 
ligion. Above a hundred years after, the clergy 
of France employed Professor Quintin, (who 
had formerly professed himself a Protestant ; 
but had apostatized since to Popery. ) to ha- 
rangue in their name the assembly of the states 
of Orleans, and to give lessons of cruelty to the 
King and Queen-mother, in the presence of the 
three estates of the kingdom. This bumble and 
devout orator for the clergy, as he styles himself, 
was pleased to say, " This, may it please your 
Majesty, is what your clergy of France proposes 
with all imaginable simplicity, obedience, hu- 
mility, submission and correction, with regard 
to the honour and service of God in your king- 
dom, that all the inhabitants of the kingdom shall 
be obliged to turn Roman Catholics ; that the 
non- christians shall not be admitted into the 
conversation and society of christian subjects ; 
and that hence-forward all heretics shall be pro- 
hibited to trade in any merchandize, whether 
books or other goods. Our request is just, rea- 
sonable, holy and catholic, and grounded on the 
express command of God, who enjoins your 
Majesty to grant it to us Heretics among 
Christians are reputed as Gentiles, and God 
says, Never contract a friendship with them, 
never associate or marry among them, suffer 
them not to inhabit the earth, have not the 
least compassion for them, beat them and kill 



6 THE LIFE OF 

them. The whole is amply and circumstantially 
discussed in the memorial of the clergy, to 
which we expect an answer." The humane 
hearts of laymen revolt at the open avowal of 
such cruelty ; and though these execrable max- 
ims had been long allowed the force of law, yet 
the wits of France posted up so many satirical 
pieces against the clergy's bumble orator, that 
they literally mortified him, and actually joked 
him into his grave. (2) 

Quintin's jurisprudence prevailed thirty eight 
years after his death, and persecution, a sort of 
church polity, was adopted by the state. When 
the reformed church obtained liberty by the e- 
dict of Nantz, it acquired also a form of civil po- 
lity as a security for the maintenance of its re- 
ligious liberty. The preservation of the peace 
of the kingdom was impossible without the pro- 
tection of the reformed. The state, therefore, 
protected them : but the implacable souls of the 
state clergy never gave up the idea of blood- 
shedding ; tigers they were created, tigers they 
continued : but for three and twenty years tigers 
in chains. The god at Rome, that made them, 
created them in his own image, the image, said 
an inspired prophet, of a beast! 

During this necessary cessation of ecclesias- 
tical arms, that very bad man Cardinal Richlieu 
first invented a new mode of attacking the re- 
formed. He thought-— pacific operations became 
christians — that it was high time to put a period 
to dissention— yea that an union of protestants 
and catholics was very practicable— Why could 
it not be effected ? They were all children of the 
same parent, and brethren in Christ Jesus — 

(2) Bez<z, HiJl.EccL —LaPIace, de V eft at de la relig. et re- 
pub, — V aril as Char* ix. 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 7 
their differences in opinion were less considera- 
ble than the over zealous on either side ima- 
gined — their systems indeed had some apparent 
inconsistencies; but, however, cool and candid 
explications might reconcile them. In this so- 
phistical manner did this first-born of deceit at- 
tack the reformed ; and although he persuaded 
his master, or rather his slave, the deluded Le- 
wis XIII. to deprive his protestant subjects of 
first one civil privilege, and then another, till he 
had stripped them of all, by reducing Rochelle, 
and had brought them to an absolute depen- 
dence on the mere clemency of the crown, yet 
he kept preaching concord and union all the 
time, and beguiled many protestants into the 
snare. 

Whether it were want of capacity, ignorance 
of regal courts, unacquaintedness with the true 
ground of separation from a papal hierarchy, 
love of the world, or whatever were the cause, 
it is certain, many pious persons were duped by 
this ecclesiastical artifice ; and, surprizing to tell! 
gave episcopal hirelings credit for religious li- 
berty, and actually concerted measures for a pro- 
jected union. Three sorts of persons were con- 
cerned in this ruinous enterprize. The first 
were bad men : a bribe did their business. The 
second were credulous pietists ; specious preten- 
ces, soft words and silken nooses caught these 
wood-cocks. The third were wise and good 
men: but prejudiced in prospect of seeming 
usefulness, and dazzled with the splendor of the 
great names of such as patronized the plan. 
Drury, Ferri, Amyraut, and Beaulieu, were all 
too deep in this scheme. (3) It was an obser-* 

(3) See Bayle. Amyrautl— Beaulieu C — Ferry Do 



8 THE LIFE OF 

vation of this usual flexibility, which induced a 
great statesman to affirm, that every man was 
purchasable, if his price were bid. 

Richlieu and Lewis XIIL w r ent each to his 
own place, while Claude was a student at Mon- 
tauban : but their polity survived them, and fell 
into the hands of Lewis XIV : that is to say, in- 
to the hands of cardinals, confessors, jesuits, 
queens, and prostitutes. It is a manifest sole- 
cism in history to affirm that all kings reign. 
Their majesties are slandered; one great soul 
now and then reigns, the rest allow their names 
to authorize the imperious passions of those, 
w 7 ho gull them and govern their kingdoms. 

In this state of affairs, while coalition was all 
the cry, the disinterested Claude, as wise a po- 
litician as any of them all, now pastor of the 
church of Nismes, was chosen Moderator of the 
Synod of Lower Languedoc. He was a man 
eminently qualified to preside in such assemblies. 
He knew the world, as able physicians know 
poisons ; the insidious artifices of bad men were 
transparent before the penetrating eye of his 
judgment, and he knew how to counteract them. 
He esteemed all good men : but he never 
thought of making their weaknesses maxims of 
church-government. He was absolutely mas- 
ter of his own temper, and dextrous at catching 
the happy moment, in which the most stubborn 
and boisterous declaimers are manageable. His 
abilities were so well known, that he was listen- 
ed to with attention, and his upright attachment 
to the reformed religion obtained a general con- 
fidence in all he said. He visited the nobility, 
dined with Messieurs the Intendants, paid pretty 
compliments to my lords, the prelates : but in 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 9 

matters of religion and conscience, he was ever 
known to be the inflexible, invariable, inconver- 
tible John Claude. 

In this Synod he broke all court-measures of 
coalition, and dismounted the machine of re- 
union in this province.. This rendered him ob- 
noxious to some, less upright than himself ; and 
presently came a decree of council prohibiting 
the exercise of his ministry throughout the whole 
province of Languedoc. Supported by a good 
conscience, he forbore preaching, and went to 
court; where, after prosecuting his cause for six 
months, he was given to understand, that the 
decree was irrevocable, and that reformed mini- 
sters not agreeable to the governors of the pro- 
vinces must be removed. We shall have occa- 
sion again to call over the project of re-union, 
and we defer a justification of Mr. Claude's con- 
duct till then. 

(4) During Mr. Claude's residence in Paris, 
several persons of the first quality, and of ex^ 
emplary piety informed him, that Marshal Tu- 
renne, who had resolved to quit the reformed 
religion, pretended to do so on conviction that 
the doctrine of transubstantiation had always 
been held by professing christians, into which 
persuasion he had been led by a book written 
either by Dr. Arnaud, or Dr. Nicoile, entitled 
The Perpetuity of the Faith : Had Mr. Claudes- 
acted on his own principles, he would have de- 
clined all attempts to fix a man of the Marshal's 
character. He knew mankind too well to waste 

(4) I follow the dates of the Rev. Abel Rotolp de la Deve- 
ze, the biographer of Claude. They do dot agree exactly with 
thofe of Bayle. See Arnaud. Rem. O- But as it is not a mat- 
ter of great confequence, I fhall not attempt to reconcile them 

B 



1D THE LIFE OF 

his theological treasure on men susceptible of 
the stronger impressions of character, fortune, 
and worldly glory. However, he yielded to the 
solicitations of his noble friends, and published 
a complete answer to The Perpetuity, in thirty 
anonymous pages. He traced the Sophister 
through all his doublings, maintained the argu- 
ments brought by Blondell and Aubertine, and 
vigorously pursued the fox, till he seemed to ex- 
pire on the spot The Jansenists were ready to 
go mad, so were all the Parisian Catholicks ; 
for, could they have found out the author, their 
friends the Jesuits would soon have prevailed with 
the head of their party to have answered his ar- 
guments. (5) 

Mr Claude, not being able to get his prohibi- 
tion taken off, left Paris, and repaired to Mon- 
tauban, entirely resigned to the providence of 
God. He could not but be happy, wherever he 
went, for he carried along with him a mind, that 
could reflect with approbation on the past, a will 
submissive to the supreme will of God, a con- 
science unstained with guilt, a heart free from 
tormenting passions, and an undaunted confi- 
dence in the future protection of his Lord. 

He arrived at Montauban on the Saturday, 
and the church insisted on his preaching next 
day. Contrary to his expectation, this people 
offered to employ him, the synod confirmed their 
choice, and he was again restored to his beloved 

(5) Lewis XIV. told the Duke of Orleans, he was difpleafed 
with him, becaufe he took the part of Cardinal de Noailles, and 
fpoke again ft the Jefuits : that y faid the king, is declaring againjl 
a party , at the head of which I my f elf am. What a glorious thing 
is it, exclaims Bayle^ for a king to own himfelf at the head of a 
party, 



MONSIUER CLAUDE. u 
pastoral labours. Here, the worthy man often 
said, he spent the four happiest years of his life. 
He loved Montauban, it was the place of his e- 
dueation. He lived in the most perfect union 
with his colleagues. There was a mutual esteem 
between himself and the whole church ; and 
here, could he have enjoyed his wish, here would 
he have spent the residue of his days : but pro- 
vidence had greater work for Claude to do. 

Marshal Turenne pretended, at first, to be sa- 
tisfied with Mr Claude's answer to The Perpe- 
tuity : but, about three years after, his doubts 
were all revived, yea strengthened by reading 
an answer to it, published by one of his old 
friends, the author of The Perpetuity. Claude 
was not so silly as to imagine that such men as 
the Marshal troubled themselves with compa- 
ring quotations from Greek and Latin fathers. 
The price of the next blue ribbon was a question 
of more consequence to them. However, as the 
Papists filled all France with shouts of victory 
obtained by this book, and as the Protestant in- 
terest was affected by this popular clamour, Mr. 
Claude set about answering this paltry piece. 
The episcopal party understood, that some re- 
formed minister was preparing an answer, they 
endeavoured to find out whence the news came, 
and who he was, that durst tarnish the glory of 
those, who were in vogue for the most learned 
and polite writers of France. At length, it was 
supposed, the hardy animal lived at Montauban, 
and the old setter, the bishop, was employed to 
find him out This prelate affected great esteem 
for Mr. Claude, and endeavoured by familiar in- 
terviews to diminish the distance, that seemed 
to be between the episcopal crcsier and the pas- 

B 2 



12 THE LIFE OF 

toral staff. He wanted to know, whether Mr, 
Claude intended to answer Dr. Arnaud, and he 
wished to he indulged with a sight of the copy, if, 
as report said, there were such a thing. Mr. 
Claude, superior to concealment, shewed him a 
part of the copy ; and although he despised the 
man for imagining he could impose on him, yet 
he informed him, that the other part of the copy 
was printing at Paris. I do not know who this 
bishop of Montauban was, nor will I look ; for 
it does not signify, a bishop of France is a 
French bishop, and a French bishop is a bishop 
of France. Presently down came an order of 
council to prohibit the exercise of the ministry 
at Montauban to John Claude. Mr Claude o- 
beyed as before, resigned his charge, and went 
to Paris to get his suspension taken off. 

No sooner was Mr Claude arrived at Paris, 
than he was informed, that a stop was put to the 
impression of his book : however, next morning 
he was complimented with better tidings ; for 
the Jesuits, having just then an occasion to low- 
er the topsail of the Jansenists, and supposing 
that Claude's book might very well serve that 
purpose, procured, without any affection for him, 
an imprimatur. How happy for good men, that 
bad ones sometimes fall out ! 

Nine months was Mr. Claude detained at Pa- 
ris in fruitless endeavours to get leave to return 
to Montauban. Although he knew, his was 
what they called an episcopal case, and that 
these causes were so privileged, that every pro- 
cess was sure to be lost ; yet his desire to return 
to his charge, or at least to acquit himself of the 
blame of negligence, induced him to try all 
means in his power, During his attendance 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. i 3 
here, the reformed church of Paris, which as- 
sembled at Charenton, determined to call him to 
the pastoral office among them, and they had 
influence enough at court to obtain leave to da 
so. It was a bold attempt, at first sight it should 
seem impracticable, to settle a preacher in the 
metropolis, who could not be borne with in a di- 
stant province; but the reformed nobility were 
politicians as well as christians, and they under- 
stood, as well as other men, the doctrine of 
lucky moments. One of these fell out at this 
time, and John Claude was associated at Charen- 
ton with Messieurs de V Angle, Daille, and Al- 
lix, who, I think, were his colleagues. 

Our pastor had not been long at Paris before 
he was obliged to take his pen a third ti me, to an- 
swer father Nouet. This Jesuit thoroughly under- 
stood that his own order neither intended to 
favour the reformed, nor to desert the papal cause 
in this important crisis, when one of the main 
pillars of popery was undermined, although they 
had held back the Jansenists from propping it 
up. Mr Claude's answer to this famous dispu- 
tant was his favourite book. All the reformed 
were extremely delighted with it, and particu- 
larly with the preface to it. This piece produced 
no bad consequences to Mr Claude, as the for- 
mer had done ; for now Jesuits and Jansenists 
were formidable to each other, and their bran- 
gles were public benefits. 

Mr Claude, as pastor of the church at Cha- 
renton, was placed on the pinnacle of the re- 
formed church of France. Superiority in these 
churches was not obtained by patents and titles^ 
and habits and hard words : but it was always 
allowed to sterling merit. Such Mr Claude 



i 4 THE LIFE OF 

possessed, and that added to his situation, at-* 
tracted the eyes of all France to him. Paris 
was the source of all the ecclesiastical mis- 
chiefs, that afflicted the provincial churches ; 
and Charenton was the place, to which they 
repaired for advice. Our sagacious pastor stu- 
died the advantages and disadvantages of his 
situation. He stood on an eminence, where he 
had the finest opportunity of reconnoitring the 
artful enemy: but this elevated station exposed 
himself at the same time to universal inspection. 
It required peculiar sagacity to distinguish his 
object of investigation from a thousand others, 
that surrounded it. It called for a singular dex- 
terity and delicacy of action to avail himself of 
events as they turned up, and to improve them 
to the defeating of episcopal manoeuvres, and 
to the confirmation of the reformed churches. 
Indefatigable attention, unremitted exertion, a 
frank deportment, and an impenetrable depth 
of thought, aclay coldness toward secular things, 
a heart inflamed with holy zeal, a courage, that 
nothing could daunt, and a countenance al- 
ternately supple and severe, were all necessa- 
ry at this critical conjuncture to the pastor 
of Charenton, and Mr Claude possessed them 
all. 

Religious liberty was that to the episcopal 
clergy, which Mordecai had formerly been to 
stately Haman. It shared no prelatical honours: 
but prelates could not be happy while it sat all 
contented and poor, at the king's gate. Its de- 
struction was determined. Bishops prepared 
poisons, which underling mountebanks dis- 
persed through all the provinces, under the 
sanction of patents from the crown. It is not 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 
imaginable, that vigorous religious freedom 
could expire without violent agonies. All the 
reformed church in France felt these dying 
pangs, and uttered lamentable groans. Claude, 
the meek and merciful Claude, whose ten- 
der soul dissolved at the sound of every hu- 
man woe, was doomed to see his darling die, 
doomed to reside the last nineteen years of 
this convulsive scene at the mart of intelli- 
gence, Paris, that painful post of observa- 
tion, 

Would my limits allow it, I should have a me* 
lancholy pleasure in attending this noble souV 
through all his various scenes; I should follow 
him in his private studies, his pastoral visits, his 
public labours in churches and synods, and his • 
attendance on great men. But I must con- 
tent myself with relating only a few principal 
articles. 

Dr Arnaud, neither content with his own 
performances, nor with that of Nouet, once 
more attacked Mr Claude on the old affair, per* 
petuity, and now changed the ground, and pre- 
tended to produce proofs innumerable that the 
Greek church had always held the doctrine of 
transubstantiation. Mr Claude answered a 
fourth time ; and, as before, the public did him 
justice, and allowed his manifest superiority o- 
ver these Port-royal champions. Dr Arnaud 
had great advantages over Claude in procuring 
troops from the GreeK pappas* Ambassadors, 
Consuls, Missionaries, ail were employed to hire 
forces, and poor venai Greek bishops were glad 
to furnish what they wanted at a proper price. 
Claude had neither conscience, commission, 
treasure, nor inclination for this kind of traf- 



t6 THE LIFE OF 

fick, and it was glorious to his cause to be su- 
perior to the want of it. Ye infallible, irre- 
fragable, angelical, seraphical doctors ! ye sons 
of the morning ! Must )^our vanity bow down 
to an illiterate paltry Greek pappa! Shall he have 
the glory of selling syllogisms at so much a 
score, and you the shame of buying them! Why, 
this is a fanciful import of ivory 9 apes, and pea- 
cocks! (6) 

Dr Nicolle proceeded to harrass the reform- 
ed again by another work, entitled, Well- 
grounded Prejudices against the Calvinists. A 
base design of exciting a spirit of persecution, 
concealed under a crafty policy, and tending to 
ruin Christianity itself for the sake of involving 
the reformed in the catastrophe, distinguishes 
this bitter book. The Romanists, however, 
gained nothing by it ; on the contrary, they 
lost much by Mr Claude's answer, entitled, 
A Defence of the Reformation, allowed by all 
to be a master-piece, the best defence of our 
separation from Rome, that either he, or a- 
ny other protestant minister had ever publi- 
shed. 

Mr Claude's next work is entitled The Para- 
ble oj the fVedding- Feast. It consists of five 
Sermons on Mat. xxii. 1, &c. which he had 
preached with great acceptance at Charenton 
the year before the publication. This work 
at this time proved, that our pastor was 
not so intent on defending the outworks of 
religion as to forget the interior glory of 
it, for the sake of which the outworks stand. 

(6) See Bayle, Arnaud, Rem. O. S. — Spanheim Stxicfi in 
Expo/. Epijc. Condomens, 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 17 
About this time, Mr Claude's only son, Isaac, 
returned from studying in the best academies 
in France, to his father, under whose tuition 
he might be prepared for the pulpit. For this 
purpose Mr Claude drew up the following essay, 
of which I shall say no more in this place, than 
that it answered all his wishes on his son. The 
synod at Sedan examined him in September 
1678, and the following October, his father en- 
joyed the pleasure of ordaining him to the 
church of Clermont Beauvoisis about fourteen 
leagues from Paris. 

Mr Claude, in this year of singular pleasure 
met with some mortifying circumstances. He 
saw the court apply every imaginable artifice to 
weaken the reformed churches. He found some 
of his own flock either imposing 011 themselves 
the papal yoke, or submitting at a certain price 
to have it imposed on them by others. He was 
not surprised at their pretended conversions : 
but he was extremely affected at the impiety of 
conducting them under a shew of argument and 
rational conviction. One day Mademoiselle de 
Duras, a member of the church of Charenton, 
paying a visit to Mr Claude, informed him, that 
she was under some scruples on account of her 
religion, and taking a paper out of her pocket, 
in which were contained some extracts from S. 
! Augustine concerning the Eucharist, begged her 
pastors assistance. Mr Claude met this lady 
I the next day at the Countess de Roye's, and was 
1 then informed, that she wished for a conference 
i, between her pastor and some divine of the 
church of Rome. Great pains were Jtaken by 
Mr Claude, and by several persons of quality, 
and piety, to dissuade Mademoiselle de Duras 



18 THE LIFE OF 

from desiring such a conference. Nothing could 
divert her from it-— She was sorry to say, she 
was deserted in her distress — this was what she 
had often been upbraided with — the catholics 
had frequently told her, the reformed ministers 
durst not shew their heads before the Roman 
doctors.- --Her dear sister the Countess knew, 
as did the Marquis of Miremont, and Marshal 
de Lorge, the distress of her mind.— She had 
no doubt of the ability of her pastor,— and she 
had always found him a gentleman of finished 
complaisance and affectionate sympathy with 
the sorrows of his people.-— Did he know what 
good a- conference would do her, he w r ould not 
deny her this great act of charity. Thus the 
young enchantress pleaded, shedding all the time 
abundance of tears. Mr Claude, who knew her 
conversion was predetermined, and that the 
whole was intended only to give an air of plau- 
sibility to her return to popery, was case-harden- 
ed against all her compliments and all her tears. 
However, the tears of a young lady were irre- 
sistible arguments to the rest of the company, 
as they are to almost all mankind. Our pastor, 
therefore, was obliged to grant that to their joint 
opinions, which he had refused to the discourse 
of Miss Duras, and to agree to a conference. 
Were the conversion of souls to be effected by 
human power, juvenile female orators would be 
the proper missionaries. A delicate negligence 
of air, the soft suasion of a silver tongue bedew- 
ed with the insinuating eloquence of a fluent eye, 
carried away all this circle against their own 
judgment^ the grave pastor himself was forced 
along with the stream. 

Before we attend the conference between 



» 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. i 9 
Claude and Bossuet (for the bishop of Condom 
was the papal champion,) it is absolutely neces- 
sary to investigate the then present state of reli- 
gious liberty in four contending communions. 
Thus we shall come clearly to the true springs 
cf action, and be enabled to reprobate the fa- 
vourite project of re-union, adopted by Bossuet, 
the pride of popery, and discover the inefficacy 
of those means, which Claude, the glory of pres- 
byterian reformers applied to destroy it. I 
should not hesitate, were Mr Claude alive, hum- 
bly to lay the following thoughts at his feet; 
for, as Monsieur de Deveze rightly observes, this 
great man followed new discoveries, occasioned 
by new objections, which time enabled the chris- 
tian world to make. Duration would be ill be- 
stowed on the world, were the last of mankind 
to govern themselves wholly by the reveries of 
the first. 

The union of all christian congregations in 
one grand corporate body is a godlike design. 
The author of Christianity professed to aim at 
making all his followers one fold under one 
shepherd ; and, had officious human folly let di- 
vine wisdom alone, union had been effected long 
ago. The idea has struck all mankind. Princes 
and prelates, civilians and divines have all at- 
tempted to produce union. Not a soul of them 
has succeeded; and, w r e will venture to affirm, the 
man will never be born, who can succeed on their 
principles. They have retained the end: but 
lost sight of the original means of effecting it. 
All other means soft or sanguinary, papal, epis- 
copal and synodical, controversial or pecuniary, 
all have divided christians more and more, and 
widened those breaches, which they pretended 

C 2 



io THE LIFE OF 

to heal. This rage of union was the soul of 
the seventeenth century, and it convulsed and 
distorted the body, as souls agitated by violent 
conflicting passions transform the features of an 
incarnate angel into the face of a fiend. (7) 

The true original remedy for all these ills is 
the restoration of that primitive religious 
liberty, which the Saviour of the world be- 
stowed on his first followers. It was equal and 
universal. Church power w r as vested in the 
people, and the exercise of it limited to each con- 
gregation. So many congregations, so many 
little states, each governed by its own laws, and 
all independent on one another. Like confe- 
derate states they assembled by deputies in one 
large ecclesiastical body, and deliberated about 
the common interests' of the whole. The whole 
was unconnected with secular affairs, and all 
their opinions amounted to no more than ad- 
vice devoid of coercion. Here was an union. 
Liberty was the object, and love was the bond* 
(8) It was an evil day, when princes hired the 
church for a standing army, and everlasting 
shame must cover the faces of those ecclesias- 
tics, who, like Judas, made their master a mar- 
ketable commodity. Princes affected to be wise 
as Solomon, and set lions to guard the steps of 
their thrones : but they had not penetration e- 
qual to the Jewish monarch ; his lions could not 
bite; but theirs have devoured the creators of 
their bein?\ elevation and form, 

(7) See MoJIiewi, cent. xvii. feB. ii. part 1 , 12, &c. This ce- 
lebrated hiftorian hasafiembled here Roman, German, French 
Dutch, and Engliih peace-makers, and affirms the Cub it an ce of 
what is laid above. 

(8) Vid. Mojfmm, ceni.\.\\.—~Buddei Ecckf. Apojlclka—tzysm 
multis aliiso 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 21 
As long as church power is vested in any o- 
ther hands than those, with whom our universal 
Lord Christ entrusted it, so long union of Chri- 
stians is impossible ; yea, we venture to add, so 
long is every mode of church-government inde- 
fensible ; nor is the reformation, or even Chri- 
stianity itself justifiable. Follow any plan of 
church-government to its source, trace the re- 
formation to its genuine springs, or pursue a 
profession of Christianity through all its mean-* 
ders to its fountain, and all will be found to rise 
in a free voluntary exercise of judgment and 
will. This is not the union intended by many, 
I know it fast enough ; but if it be the only 
practicable union ; that of which alone the crea- 
tor formed us capable; that for the sake of which 
pur sovereign Lord undertook to officiate as 
prophet, priest and king in this world ; that for 
the production of which his revelation, his doct- 
rines, his ordinances, his officers, are all calcu- 
lated ; that, in a word, on which hangs all intel- 
lectual felicity ; who are we, that we presume 
to sink the happiness of a world in a selfish o- 
cean of rebellion against God ! 

Let us come to facts, as they stood at the time 
pf this famous conference. Jesus Christ not- 
having finished his church to the liking of the 
church of Rome, the doctors of this community 
had been obliged, through successive ages, to 
hold councils in order to complete the work. At 
length, fifteen hundred and sixty- three years 
after the birth of our divine architect, they came 
to a conclusion at Trentconcerning the fashion 
of an everlasting door of entry into the build- 
ing. An Italian priest of the family of Medicis, 
called Pope Pius the Fourth, issued out one bull 



22 THE LIFE OF 

to confirm the decrees of the council of Trent ; 
and the next year another, in which all ecclesi- 
astics were commanded to be admitted into the 
Roman church, by taking a solemn oath of obe- 
dience to the Pope, of faith in all the doctrines 
taught by the church, of absolute submission to 
all the positive institutes of councils, and parti- 
cularly those of the council of Trent, and finally 
of perseverance to the last moment of life in 
this profession.™ So help you God, and this 
holy gospel! (9) My hand trembles so at touch- 
ing this taurum Phalaridis, that, if any ask, Is* it 
peace? I can only reply, with our Dr Ames, What 
peace so long as the witchcrafts of Jezebel are so 
many ? or with Joseph Hall, Behold ! God zmll 
judge these fat caitkl ( 1 ) 

Let us search for religious liberty in a second 
community, the episcopal church of England as 
it stood in this year. We say nothing of the 
then reigning prince, Charles II. His Majesty 
was a gentleman of more humane principles 
than any of his family. He was wholly devoted 
to gaiety and pleasure. As to religion he had 
none : but had he been left to himself he would 
have acted as other dissipated gentlemen act. 
He would have laughed at religion in every 
form, and have kept his hands clean from hu- 
man blood. He hated to be tormented by the 
clergy to persecute the non-conformists. " You 
do nothing, said he to his bishops, and worse 
than nothing, and you want me to do every 

(9) Voyez Jurieu Hist, de Concile de Trente — Reponje de Mon- 
Jieur Claude. Pref. au Expos, de L'Eveque de Condom. 

(1) Vid. Lib - parvuL vere aureujn, Gut. Amejii^ cui tit. Pu- 
rltanismus Angticanus^ 1610 : cui add, Jos. Haiti Roma Irrecon- 
ciiiabiUs. 



MONSIUER CLAUDE. 23 
thing. If you had lived well, and taken pains 
to convince the non-conformists, the nation 
might have been settled : but you think of no- 
thing but to get good benefices, and keep a good 
table. I had a very honest chaplain, to whom I 
gave a living in Suffolk ; but he is a very great 
blockhead, and yet he has brought all his parish 
to church. I can't imagine what he could say 
to them ; for he is a very silly fellow : but he has 
been about from house to house, and I suppose 
his nonsense has suited their nonsense, and in 
reward of his diligence I have given him a bi- 
shopric in Ireland/' (2) 

The episcopal church of England has a very 
pretty face, as many other ladies have ; for she 
(I use her own style) proposes to make the 
scriptures sole judge in matters of faith : but, re- 
member, gentle reader, they are the scriptures 
not as Jesus Christ gave them : but as explained 
in certain subsidiary instruments called articles, 
creeds, homilies, liturgies and canons. If the 
scriptures speak not according to these, it is be- 
cause there is no light in them. Between col- 
lege and church lie several instruments essential 
to admission, all to be executed previous to the 
enjoyment of any of the religious benefits of the 
corporation. The object in all these is the 
church of England, as by law established. The 
episcopal clergy know the truth of what I af- 
firm. I have authentic copies before me of tes- 
timonials, letters of orders, and so on, taken 
from modern practice in one of the first dioceses 
in England. A man, who would judge rightly, 
ought to distinguish between the kingdom of 
Great Britain and the episcopal church in the 

(2) Burnet. 



2 4 THE LIFE OF 

kingdom Britons enjoy religious liberty now, 
which they did not enjoy in the time of Mr. 
Claude : but episcopalians remain in statu quo. 
Then episcopacy rioted in the name of God and 
king Charles : now non-conformists rest happy 
beneath revoiutiohal shade. 

At the time of Claude's conference, cruel arch- 
bishop Sheldon was just dead. He had been a 
humble disciple of that great patron of persecu- 
ting power, Lord Clarendon, (3) and continued 
all his days a most inveterate enemy of the non- 
conformists, a tool of the prerogative, a man, 
who made a jest of religion, any farther than it 
was a political engine of state. (4) Him Sancroft 
succeeded, and now figured away at the head of 
affairs; that Sancroft, who went to Crete in 
search of episcopacy ; (5) that Sancroft, who 
was frightened out of his wits at king James's 
assumption of arbitrary power, when it shook its 
"black rod over episcopacy, and went to the tow- 
er rather than submit to it : but who had con- 
tributed, with his associates, more than all the 
nation beside, to advance prerogative above law, 
when it might crush the non-conformists ; that 
Sancroft, who like a mariner in a storm at sea, 
" prayed fervently to the God of peace for an 
universal blessed union of all reformed churches 
at borne and abroad that archbishop of Can- 
terbury, in a word, who was deprived for Jacobi- 
tism at the revolution ; that was the man, who, 
with Compton, Gunning, and others like them- 



(3) Burnet. 

C4) NeaVs Hlft. of Puritan s> ann. 1677. 

(5) See Vol. I. of this Eflay, page 197, note. 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 25 
selves, then managed the doctrine of authority 
so as to exclude christian liberty. * 

This very year the penal laws were in full 
force against non-conformists, and the execu- 
tion of them in the hands of their avowed ene- 
mies. This year an insurrection, if not a mas- 
sacre, was intended. In this blessed plan Pope 
Innocent XI. Cardinal Howard, and many o- 
ther great men, were concerned. Churchmen 
were to kill dissenters, and papists them, the 
king was to be murdered, and the kingdom held 
in fee. -f My God! what calamities has popery 
produced ! 

An anglican bishop wrote to Mr Claude for 
advice, as he pretended, how to conduct himself 
toward the English non -conformists. Mr 
Claude knew well enough if he censured epis- 
copacy too severely, his beloved refugees would 
suffer for it; and if he treated it too mildly, his 
letter would be paraded about England to serve 
a bad cause; the clergy of France would all rise 
up against him, for even they affected to hold a 
pacific episcopacy ; and all his own presbyterian 
churches in France would consider him as a man, 
who ignorantly or wickedly built in England 
what he had destroyed at home. In this delicate 
situation the eyes of all were upon him, and 
though he could not break the snare, which the 
wily priest had set, yet he avoided the mischief 
intended by it, with the utmost caution. He wrote; 
but finding the complaisance of his first letter a- 
bused, he wrote a second, and exceedingly bla- 

* See Burnet — Neal — Calamy &c, Mofheim, cent. xvii. 

ch. ii. f. 2. p. 2. 25. 



t Neal, Vol. II. chap. 10. ami. 1678, 

D 



26 THE LIFE OF 

med the rigour of the episcopal party in Eng- 
land. The priest, with true sacerdotal duplici- 
ty complimented Mr Claude: but went no more 
to that foreign market to purchase praise for 
home consumption. He never printed Claude's 
last letter; but Mr Isaac Claude published it 
after his father's death. * Here then was no 
religious liberty. Let us enquire for it in Mr 
Claude's own community. 

The first French reformers were of various 
sentiments both in doctrine and discipline: but 
the vicinity of Geneva.Lausanne, and other cities 
which adhered to Calvin's system, together with 
the incredible zeal of this eminent man, and his 
two colleagues Beza and Farel, affected France 
so as to engage the far greater part to adopt the 
presbyterian.discipline. Accordingly, they held 
in the course of one hundred years, twenty-nine 
national synods. The first was held at Paris, in 
1559, where Francis de Morell, Lord of Cal- 
longes, was president, and the last at Loudon, 
Nov. 10, 1659. In that which was held at Alez 
in 1620, the decisions of the council of Dort 
were adopted. The following oath was " taken 
by all the synod, and ordered by them to be 
read in all provincial synods and universities, 
to be allowed, sworn to, and signed by pastors, 
elders, and professors of the universities, and by 
all, who pretended to be received into the mi- 
nistry. If any one rejected the doctrines de- 
creed by the canons of the council, either in 
whole or in part, and refused to make oath of his 
consent and approbation, the synod ordained, 
that such refuser should not be admitted to any 



* Qzuvres Pofthumes^ torn* r. 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 2 7 
charge or employment ecclesiastical or schola- 
stical whatsoever." This is the form of the 
oath. — " I, A. B. do swear and protest in the 
sight of God, and this holy assembly, that I do 
receive, approve of, and embrace all the doctrine 
taught andagreed upon in thenational synod ojDort, 
as entirely conformable to the word of God, 
and that confession of faith, which is profes- 
sed in our churches. I do swear and promise, 
moreover, to persevereduring life, in the profes- 
sion of the said doctrine ; and to maintain it to 
the utmost of my power, and that neither in 
pulpit, nor in schools, nor in writing will I de- 
part from that rule/' . . . Then follow a few 
lines condemnatory of Arminianism, and the 
whole closes with these words, ... "So help 
me, God! and be merciful to me, as I swear 
all as above, without any equivocation or men- 
tal reservation/' What a wide field of specu- 
lation opens here ! but we only ask, by what 
authority was this yoke put upon the necks of 
another mans disciples? and can a church thus 
constituted be said to possess religious liber- 
ty ? * Let me be allowed to say, liberty of dis- 
sembling, liberty of prevaricating, liberty of 
departing to seek redress elsewhere, none of 
these is iiberty to be religious in such a com- 
munity. 

Sacred religious liberty ! whither art thou 
fled ! where shall I find thee! methinks I hear 
thy plaintive voice in the wilderness. Lovely in- 
habitant of the desert! how beautiful are thy 
feet even on the rugged mountains ! how enli- 

* gulch's Synodicon* Maimbourgs Peaceable method See 

llerport on oaths. 

D 2 



28 THE LIFE OF 

vening thy voice ! lift it up with strength, and 

say unto the cities, Peace, peace, behold your 

God. 

Whether the fourth community, of which we 
now speak, came from the valleys of Piedmont, 
or whether it originated among those reformers, 
who. consistent with their own principles, made 
pure scripture the rule of reformation, it is cer- 
tain, some societies appeared, very early, advo- 
cates for congregational church-government. 
The churches included both baptists and inde- 
pendents, Some, as the Brownists, ran liberty 
Into licentiousness: and others, as Robinson in 
Holland, and Jacob in England, sometimes ex- 
plained, and arranged, and at other times rather 
cramped matters: but all held the grand princi- 
ple of self-government, and the absolute inde- 
pendence of each congregation on any exterior 
jurifdiction. Here, as in all safe civil societies, 
the bases and principles of good government are 
held. Individuals are born free, each with li- 
berty to dispose of himself. Several indivi- 
duals congregated, carry together separate 
power, and deposit it in any degree, more or 
less, as the whole think fit, in one aggregate 
sum, in one or more hands for the public good. 
Officers, chosen by all to hold and dispense this 
delegated power, are in trust only, consequent- 
ly responsible to their constituents, and all 
their power is constitutionally revertible to the 
source, whence it came, on abuse of the trust, or 
at the demise of the trustee. As all this busi- 
ness is spiritual, power extends over only spi- 
ritualities. Life, liberty, property credit, and 
so on, are all insured in another office, entrusted 
in other hands, under the care of civil govcr-- 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 29 
nors. Here then is religious liberty. Various 
churches enjoy it in various degrees ; but in 
those churches, where infants are excluded, and 
where all are volunteers, where each society 
pleaseth itself and injures nobody, where impo- 
sition is not known, and where blind submission 
cannot be borne ; where each society is a sepa- 
rate family, and all together a regular confede- 
racy, unpaid for believing, and far from the fear 
of suffering; there does religious liberty reign. 
We enjoy this liberty in Britain. It seems good 
to our civil governors to oblige us to purchase it 
by a resignation of some of our civil birth-rights. 
We think this hard. However, we pay the price* 
and enjoy the purchase. 

This fort is more than tenable, it is invincible. 
Grant us voxpopuli vox dei ; only allow the peo- 
ple to be the source of power, and we have a 
wish equal to that of Archimedes, and as much 
more glorious as the dignity of directing the 
world of spirit is superior to that of guiding the 
motion of matter. Farewell popery, prelacy, 
presbytery, I have understanding as well as you. 
My Creator gave me ability to judge for myself. 
My Redeemer brought a charter from Heaven 
to confirm my right of doing so, and gave me a 
rule to guide the exercise of my right. In the 
exercise of this right I may be holy and happy. 
The universe can do no more for me. 

This long digression will abbreviate a longer 
narration of the famous dispute between Bossuet 
and Claude, which set all pens a going thro 
England, Holland, and France. James Benigne 
Bossuet, first bishop of Condom, and last bishop 
of Meaux, was one of the most formidable 
vers^ries of his time. He was a man of fine na 



3 o THE LIFE OF 

tural abilities. His address was insinuating, 
though his pretended eloquence was vile bom- 
bast. He had the souplesse of a courtier along 
with as much learning and reading as usually 
fall to the share of a popish prelate. He was in 
the highest reputation and power. Privy coun- 
sellor, Bishop of a diocese, Tutor to the Dau- 
phin, and Almoner to the Queen. He was mas- 
ter of all sorts of dissimulation, duplicity, and 
treachery. He had a heart cased with inhuma- 
nity, and a front covered with brass. Archbi- 
shop Wake in England, Claude in France, and 
numbers more, detected and exposed his false- 
hoods : but nothing stopped his career, he rol- 
led on, a mighty torrent of mischief, driving all 
before him ; away went the reputable Fenelon 
along with the contemptible Claude. This fini- 
shed instrument of wickedness disputed with 
Claude at the Countess de Roye's, hi the pre- 
sence of several of the nobility. He bad before 
published his famous exposition of the catholic 
faith, in which he had endeavoured so to explain 
thedoctrines of popery, as to prove them perfect- 
ly agreeable to those of the reformed churches. 
Even moderate papists blushed for that shame- 
ful sacrifice of truth, which this audacious dispu- 
tant made for the sake of gaining proselytes. 
Protestants have exposed his absurdity, and re- 
futed his sophistry a thousand times over: but, 
after all, there is one argument, and that the ca- 
pital one, which was urged home by the prelate, 
and which lies unanswered to this day. The 
following is a true translation of his words. 
" The supreme authority of the church is so ne- 
cessary to determine . . . the sense of scripture, 
that even our adversaries, after they have repro- 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE 3s 
bated it as an intolerable tyranny among us, 
have been obliged to establish it among them- 
selves. When independents openly declared, 
that every believer ought to follow the dictates 
of his own conscience, without submitting to the 
authority of any bodies, or ecclesiastical assem- 
blies of men, and on this principle refused to 
submit to the synods, that, which was held at 
Charenton in 1644, censured this doctrine for 
the same reasons, and on account of the same in- 
con veniencies, for which we reject it." He then 
goes on to shew that the synod entertained the 
same ideas of independency as the church of 
Rome embraced. He proves from the votes of 
the synod, that they allowed no right of private 
judgment: but insisted under pain of excom- 
munication, that every religious dispute should 
be referred to conference, from thence to con- 
sistory, thence to a provincial synod, and finally 
to a national synod, from which supreme court 
there lay no appeal. " Now, adds he, is not this 
as absolute a submission as we demand ? The 
independents agree to be determined by scrip- 
ture, so do you, and so do we. Wherein then 
do we differ? They pretend to be determined by 
theirown sense of scripture : but you and we by 
that sense, which the church gives it." Next 
he proceeds to quote the form of those letters 
missive, which the synod held at Vitre in 1617, 
had ordered to be sent by the provincial synods, 
by the hands of there deputies, to the national 
synod, conceived in these terms, u We promise 
before God~to submit to whatever shall be 
concluded and resolved on in your holy assem- 
bly (a tout ce qui sera conclu.) to ehey and exe- 
cute it to the utmost of our power, being per- 



32 THE LIFE OF 

suaded that God will preside among you, and 
will guide you by his holy spirit into all truth 
and equity, according to his word." Exactly 
our state, exclaims the prelate. This is an en- 
gagement to admit what the next synod should 
appoint, not if it should appear to you agreeable 
to the word of God: but if it should appear so 
to the synod. For your parts, you reserve no 
right of examination. You are previously per- 
suaded the holy spirit will preside in the assem- 
bly. The doughty champion has not yet done, 
he gives one push more, a home thrust it is. 
" The national synod of St Foi, held in 1578, 
made an attempt to unite Calvanists and Luther- 
ans in one general confession of faith. The 
provincial synods were required to authorize 
deputies to treat of, agree, and decide all points 
of doctrine, and other articles concerning an 
union. The national synod empowered four 
experienced ministers to conduct this business. 
If it were practicable, the formulary was to be 
sent to each synod for examination ; but if the 
said confession of faith could not be convenient- 
ly sent to be examined by all, then, confiding in 
the wisdom and prudence of their deputies, they 
empowered them to agree and conclude all mat- 
ters under deliberation, both articles of doctrine, 
and all other things tending to the union of the 
two churches. Here now, says the prelate, here 
are four men furnished with full power to alter 
a confession of faith, which you offer to the 
world as a confession perfectly agreeable to the 
word of God, and for the maintenance of which 
you tell our kings, when you present it to them, 
an infinite multitude of you are willing to shed 
your blood. Pray, what does the catholic church 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 35 
require of her members more than the pretended 
reformed require of theirs?" * 

Pretended reformed is a title always given by 
papists to protestants, The reformed in France 
were obliged to name themselves so. The na- 
tional assembly held at Tonneins 1614, humbly 
entreated their Majesties to free them from this 
mortifying necessity. This old cant is not yet 
out of date ; for non-conforming ministers in 
England are yet admitted to exercise their mi- 
nistry under the description of persons in holy 
orders, or in pretended holy orders. But, in 
reality, who are reformed, and who are only pre- 
tendedly so; they who retain, or they who dis- 
card the main pillar of popery,the transferring of 
a personal concern with God to a proxy ? Every 
thing habited in blue or black among us we sa- 
lute the Reverend : not that we affect empty 
titles, or attach ideas of power to them; but be- 
cause we mean to bear a public testimony to the 
reality of a right claimed by the people, a right 
of electing their own religious officers, and of 
conferring on them all that validity of ordina- 
tion to office, which daring men in other com- 
munities have transferred from the people to 
their priests. Pretended reformers change the 
name, and preserve the thing. Real reformers 
remove the thing and remain indifferent about 
the name. 

It would be endless to recite the arguments, 
and describe the books, which flew about in 
this controversy. I will, therefore, take my 
leave of it, and onl yobserve, that Bossuet de- 
ll 



* Epof. de la dotlrine dc VEglis Cathol. par Mtjjire Jacques 
Bm. Bojfuet, xx. 



34 THE LIFE OF 

clared, Mr Claude said the most and the best, 
that could be said for a bad cause. He said all 
with the utmost sincerity : but prejudices of e- 
ducation, defects in a constitution of things, ex- 
amples of parents and friends, alloperated in this 
case on the humble and diffident Claude, who 
never pretended to infallibility. I may venture 
to add, his soul was superior to his system. A 
theory of tyranny lay in his books and creeds : 
but he never acted on it in real life: but on the 
safer, because the more humane, liberal, and ge- 
nerous dispositions of his own good heart, 

The episcopal clergy continued all this while 
invariably to pursue their favourite plan of ex- 
tirpating the reformed : but it is not my design 
to attend these sanctimonious hypocrites 
through any other of their sanguinary measures 
than those, which affected Mr Claude. It had 
long been a maxim of court-policy, as Voltaire 
expresses it, to kiss the Pope's feet and tie his 
hands. The clergy knew their interest, and as 
the crown had at this time a dispute with Rome 
concerning the regale, that is, a collation to be- 
nefices, the clergy in a body waited on his Ma- 
jesty to express their surprize at the papal claim. 
They took care, however, to play their cards 
cunningly, by sending an abject apology to the 
Pope, assuring him, they were obliged to act as 
they did. In their address to the King, they la- 
mented, that the pretended reformed took advan- 
tage of their dispute with Rome to strengthen 
themselves in schism and sedition. They opened 
their convocations with the most fulsome ser- 
mons and harangues, that the lowest degreeof 
sordidness could utter. Bossuet, like his prede- 
cessor Balaam, spouted away in his sermon from 



MONSIUER CLAUDE. 35 
Num. xxiv. 5. How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob, 
and thy tabernacles, O Israel! A little change, soon 
made by a prelate of genius and erudition, me- 
tamorphosed the text into, How goodly is thy 
conclave, O Rome, and thy hierarchy, O Galil- 
ean church! Consequently, how heretical, schis- 
matical,and seditious is the pretended reformed 
conventicle ! The man runs metaphor-mad, and 
inflames all the convocation with a specious but 
a fiery zeal for extirpating heresy. At the end 
of the session they published instructions for the 
conversion of their dearly beloved brethren, the 
straying sheep of Christ, the pretended reform- 
ed. They dispersed circular letters through all 
the kingdom, and therein they insulted the 
miseries of a people, already harrassed to death 
by their cruelty. Crocodile cries and cant 
phrases, compliments and curses, the name of 
Christ and the spirit of Antichrist, the omnipo- 
tence of the throne and the nauseous titles of the 
prelates made up these horrible instruments of 
devastation, entitled, Circular letters oj the As- 
sembly of the Clergy of France. * 

It was a bold attempt to expose the iniquity of 
these letters; however, Mr Claude did so most 
effectually by printing a small piece, entitled, 
Considerations on the circular letters of the As- 
sembly of the clergy of France of the year 1682. 
This anonymous book was known to be his, 
and it did him great honour. Several of the 
prelates were men of birth, family and fortune; 
and, viewing them in this point of light, the 
author paid them several compliments,, and pro- 

E2 

* Voyez Procez du Ckrge du France — -Affairs, du Ckrge, 
1680, 1, 2, &c. 



S 5 THE LIFE OF 

fessed as much respect for them as was their 
due; but all of them were the unprincipled tools 
of a gloomy tyrant, and were carrying on infer- 
nal schemes of a bloody polity under the name 
of Jesus Christ. In this light he detested the 
men, assumed an air of true dignity, upbraided 
them with their affected mildness, exposed their 
tyranny over conscience, declared that he did 
not own them for his masters, and that he took 
his pen only to state the principles of the pro- 
testants in a fair light, and to vindicate that li- 
berty of conscience, which God had given to all 
mankind. 

These letters of the Assembly not producing 
such effects as the prelates hoped, they procured 
an order for the notification of them to all the 
protestants in the kingdom. The Intendant of 
£ach province had orders to convene the pro- 
testant consistories, to take with him the bi- 
shop's vicar, and some other attendants, and to 
go in person and read the circular letter to each 
consistory. All the reformed churches fixed 
their eyes on Charenton, and determined to 
act in this new and difficult case as Mr Claude 
sh©uld set them an example. Happily, Chare - 
ton was the first consistory summoned, and 
Mr. Claude was chosen to answer. The .consis- 
tory met. Claude was in the chair. Monsieur 
the Intendant entered with his train, and read 
the letter. Mr Claude replied in a few words, 
well chosen and full of sense.-— He owned the 
august character, with which Monsieur, the In- 
tendant, was vested— -he declared, that he and 
his church had a profound respect for civil ma- 
gistracy—that, as a proof of their submission to 
it, they had assembled to hear him read a letter, 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 37 
which contained nothing but affliction for all the 
reformed — that my Lords the prelates chal- 
lenged their respect on account of the rank, 
which his Majesty had thought proper to give 
them— but that, if they pretended in these letters 
to speak to them as from an ecclesiastical tribu- 
nal, he was bound in conscience to declare, that 
neither he nor his church did at all acknowledge 
their authority. This judicious answer was in- 
stantly printed, and it served for a model to all 
the other consistories through the kingdom. 

Mr. Claude neglected no opportunity of doing 
good ; but employed the little remaining breath- 
ing time in writing and publishing a small prac- 
tical book on preparation for the Lord's supper, 
from 1 Cor. xi. 28. In this admired piece the 
author developes the human heart, follows the 
sinner through all his windings, takes off his 
mask, shews his misery, and conducts him to 
our Lord Jesus Christ as his sovereign good. 
This book had a most rapid sale. The people 
would have exploded transubstantiation, had not 
the king and the prelates forbidden them. 

About this time, the university of Groningen 
invited Mr. Claude to accept of a professorship 
of divinity there. The offer was made with all 
the due forms, and with all the inducement, 
that could be desired : but neither could the 
church at 1.'. ha ; en ton endure the thought of par- 
ting with their pastor, nor could the pastor bear 
to leave his flock at the approach of the heaviest 
storm, that had ever fallen on them. He there- 
fore returned a handsome answer to the univer- 
sity : but begged leave to decline the honour in- 
tended him. The disinterested shepherd of the 
flock at Charenton saw the thief and the wolf 



3 8 -THE LIFE OF 

coming to steal, and to kill, and to destroy ; but, 
not being a hireling, he determined not to flee 5 
but to abide, and to lay down, if it should be 
necessary, his life for the sheep. 

The calamities of the Protestants increased 
-every day, and the established clergy seemed to 
single out Claude in all their publications as the 
ring-leader of the heresy. He, all placid and 
serene in his conscience, answered what wanted 
answering, and despised the rest. Aware of the 
worth of every moment, he became more indefa- 
tigable than ever. He preached very often, and 
very frankly; he advised and assisted other 
churches ; he opened his hand liberally to all 
his brethren's necessities ; and pressed home 
practical religion in private more than ever. 
His church was now a noble sight ; the counte- 
nances and the tears of his crowded auditories 
produced tenderness and zeal in occasional 
preachers, and excited the idea of a shipwreck- 
ed people climbing up a rock of hope. Sleep, 
and whispering, and complaints, and all the dis- 
graces of christian worship were banished these 
assemblies, while all acts of piety and benevo- 
lence supplied their place.- 

At length the fatal vear arrived, in which the 
long-laid plot of extirpating pr cestantism, be- 
gun and conducted by those inf c nal instruments 
of despotism called Bishops of France, was to 
be executed. In May the clergy held an as- 
sembly at Versailles. Their deputies, as usual, 
harangued Bajazet, * congratulated him for the 

* I allude to Mr Rowe's Tragedy of Tamerlane. Dr, Wel- 
vood fays, In this play he aimed at a parallel between William 
III. and Tamerlane, "and Bajazet and Lewis XIV. And, he 
adds, fince nothing could be more calculated for railing in the 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 39 
success of his design to extirpate heresy, extol- 
led the glory he had acquired by oppressing 
the reformed, above all the victories that he 
had ever obtained. In defiance of all the blood 
flowing in the Cevennes, and in all the distant 
provinces, and in spite of all the groans, that is- 
sued from gallies, banishments and dungeons, 
they assured the tyrant, he had raised the church 
to the highest pitch of glory, and filled it with 
joy because he had done the great work without 
fire or sword. However, to make neat fashion- 
able work they added eight and twenty little ar- 
ticles more, all despotic and penal, which were 
yet to be done to finish off the exploit. This 
kind of orators have a patent for lying, and death 
and the devil have a commission, the first from 
Lewis, and the last from the pope, to silence all, 
who dare contradict them. 

The old Chancellor, Father Le Tellier, per- 
ceiving he should die before the session of par- 
liament, obtained of the king by frequent impor- 
tunities, that the grand affair, the revocation 
of the edict of Nantz, should be put off no 
longer ; but that he might have the honour to 
put the seal to it before he expired. He was in- 
dulged, the edict v/as prepared, the seal was put 
to it Oct. 18th, and four days after it was regis- 
tered in the chamber of vacations. This super- 
annuated old sinner was so infatuated as to adopt 
Simeon's words, when he sealed the instrument. 
It was the last act of his chancellorship, and he 

minds of the audience a true paffion for liberty, and a jufl ab- 
horrence of flavery, he wonders how this play came to be dis- 
couraged next to a prohibition in the latter end of Q: Ann's 
reign. The Dr. did not think proper to affign the reafon ; in- 
deed it was unneceiTary, all the world knew it, 



46 THE LIFE OF 

died soon after with these words in his mouth, I 
will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever. His 
panegyrist says, " he went on singing the rest of 
the psalm when begot to heaven'' I am not sure 
of that. I only know, all the bishops attended 
his funeral in their habits, and Archbishop 
Flechier, a very good man, w hen he was not 
ordered to be wicked, preached the funeral ora- 
tion, said all the fine things he could invent, 
and declared that to be a pious edict, a triumph 
of religion, a most glorious monument of the 
piety of the king, * that edict, I say, which 
condemned two millions of rational beings to 
ruin for exercising their own reason in matters 
of religion, and did so in direct violation of 
oaths, and public instruments and all the ties, 
that usually bind mankind. 

The edict was not yet published under the 
seal, and the church at Charenton obtained an 
order of council for the continuance of their 
public worship, till it should be so. They ob- 
tained the favour, and spent their time in fast- 
ing, praying, preaching, settling their affairs, as 
well as they could, and deliberating whether to 
flee, and what to do. What oceans of sorrow 
for Claude at Paris, while Le Tellier was singing 
the eighty-ninth psalm in heaven ! 

The merciless bishops, loth to do the devil's 
tvork by halves, artfully set one snare more for 
Mr Claude. They procured a publication of the 
edict under the seal on Thursday Dec. 1 8th, and 
they took care to give the consistory at Cha- 
renton legal notice of it. They knew the edict 
could not be registered in parliament till the 

(*) Ce pieux edit, Triomphe de la fih La puts du Roi. 
Flecb* Orais.fun. pour Le Tellier* 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 41 
next week, and they hoped the protestants 
would meet on the intervening Lord's day for 
public worship. In such a case, they intended 
to come into the church, speak to the people, 
and embroil them with the civil powers. Be- 
tween the king and the parliament, prerogative 
and law, they intended, as between two mil- 
stones, to grind the reformed to powder. The 
better to succeed, they concealed their trea- 
chery ; and, as they took no steps on the publi- 
cation of the edict toward seizing the church, the 
good people supposed, compassion had for once 
entered the heart of a bishop, and that the small 
consolation of one, last, farewell Lord's-day 
worship, w r as a favour intended them. Mr 
Claude knew the men too well not to distrust 
a favour coming from such suspected hands* 
He, therefore, dissuaded the ministers from 
preaching, and the people from assembling; 
they agreed, and the church at Charenton was 
shut on the Lord's day. Some thought, Mr 
Claude took a hasty step : but others better in- 
formed said, it was a masterly stroke. It was 
a turn given to the rudder of a great ship, that 
was going to be wrecked ; it came from the 
hand of a skilful pilot, whom God enabled to 
save the passengers, when he could not prevent 
the wreck of the vessel. 

The ecclesiastics, seeing their design defeat- 
ed, and knowing by long experience that Claude 
must be the man, who had rendered their 
scheme abortive, were enraged beyond their 
usual measure ; and declared, with true episco- 
pal heroism, they would prevent his future over 
officious care of his flock, and spare him the 
pain of seeing their dispersion. They made 

F 



4 a THE LIFE bV 

their threatening good. On Monday, Dec. 22, 
the edict was registered in parliament. F ifteen 
days were allowed the ministers to depart the 
kingdom. The bishops found means to abridge 
this time in regard to Mr Claude, and at ten 
o'clock on Monday forenoon he received orders 
to quit the kingdom within twenty-four hours. 
One of the king's footmen was appointed to at- 
tend him to the frontiers of France. Mr Claude 
was prepared for the event, and received the or- 
der as became a christian. 

When God created John Claude, he laid him 
under the fatal necessity of committing the un- 
pardonable sin in the account of those despotic 
hypocrites, popish prelates. These men, never 
forgive the man, who has penetration enough 
to discover the true springs of their actions, and 
rectitude and benevolence enough to abhor and 
expose them. Such men as Claude are not 
made up to their mind. An ignorant monk, 
who does not know the world, a needy spend- 
thrift in distress for fear of his creditors, a das- 
tardly cringing creature, who dare not call his 
soul his own, a lover of ease, a slave to praise, 
these, and others like them, are formed for ser- 
vitude, and lick the feet of their lords the pre- 
lates, who, in great wisdom and piety, in pure 
love to their souls, and in a primitive laudable 
zeal for the glory of God, condescend to lead 
them through life in episcopal chains. 

On Tuesday morning, Dec. 23, the Man of 
God took coach at Paris for Brussels intending 
to go and reside with his only son, who was 
then pastor of the Walloon church at the Hague, 
The king's footman treated him with all possi- 
ble civility, his merit- commanding the man's 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 43 
respect. At every stage he was complimented 
by persons of distinction. He slept one night 
at Cambray. The father rector of the Jesuits 
did him the honour of a visit, and the house 
presented him with what was in season. At 
length he arrived at the Hague, and, in receiving 
and returning the embraces of his family, for 
thateveningj forgat his perils, and the remains 
of a fit of sickness, which he had before he left 
Paris. 

A few days after his arrival, he had the ho- 
nour of paying his respects to the prince and 
princess of Orange, and to the chief persons of 
the state. He was received in a manner, that 
overwhelmed his soul with joy ; and he often 
declared, he could not sufficiently admire the 
magnanimity of those illustrious men, who, the 
moment they quit an assembly, where they have 
appeared vested with the majesty of a sovereign 
state, converse with other men as if they thought 
them fellow-citizens. The contrast between 
this court and that of France may well be sup- 
posed to strike our exile. Dignity here must 
seem the soft majesty of angels : but dignity 
there the ferocious swell of devils. 

The Elector of Brandenburg endeavoured to 
prevail with Mr Claude to settle in his territo- 
ries : but for particular reasons he declined it. 
The states provided for him at the Hague in a 
manner, which shewed their great opinion of his 
merit. The prince of Orange too settled a con- 
siderable pension on him. Here, then, he en- 
joyed all imaginable quiet. His house was the 
asylum of all the dispersed, and many a long 
night and day did he sit to hear their lamenta- 
| ble tales, soothing their sorrows, quieting their 

F 2 



44 THE LIFE OF 

fears, reconciling their minds to a wise provi- 
dence, and justifying the ways of God to men. 
Here he collected authentic materials for his 
last work. The complaints of the Protestants of 
France. He understood, that Bossuet, and the 
other French prelates, had the consummate im- 
pudence to affirm, that the government had used 
no force toward the protectants, that the bi- 
shops had converted them by reason, and argu- 
ment, and gentle measures. Shocked at the 
accumulated impiety of the men, he stated he 
facts, painted the bishops in their own colours, 
published the book, and appealed to all Europe, 
All Europe (except the Pope, and our James II. 
who caused the book to be burnt by the hands 
of the common hangman.) all Europe ecchoed. 
Everlasting infamy cover the bishops of 
France ! 

Mr Claude's course of life at the Hague was, 
in genera], this. He rose early, worshipped 
Gcci in private, and afterward with his family. 
The forenoon he spent in study, afternoons he 
devoted to visitors, for the people, who sought 
to converse with him were innumerable: He 
ate a light and early supper, and received after 
it his intimate friends, " Here, says one of 
them, in those hours cf freedom, in those easy 
conversations, we saw the very Mr Claude. His 
serious openness of heart, his wise and affable 
conversation, his penetrating genius and sweet 
temper, afforded us the highest delight. These 
conversations always ended with the usual exer- 
cises of piety in his family. The company de- 
parted, and he retired to bed/' 

There was at this time, no regular preaching 
in the Walloon church, Mr Claude, however, 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 45 
preached there occasionally in his son's stead, 
and at other times elsewhere. Going to pay his 
respects to the Elector of Brandenburg at Cleve, 
the Duke desired him to preach in his palace at 
two in the afternoon. Mr Claude did so from 
these words, If any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature, and so on. His highness was ex- 
tremely pleased with the sermon, and he ex- 
pressed his satisfaction to Mr Claude in the 
most ample manner. The prince and princess 
of Orange often required him to preach before 
them. Mr Claude had not a fine voice : but 
his auditors were always charmed with his ser- 
mons; and it was a smart saying of a gentle- 
man, who was asked after sermon, how he liked 
the preacher. Every voice will be for him, said 
he, except his own. 

It was on December the 25th, 1686, that Mr 
Claude preached one of his noblest sermons be- 
fore their royal highnesses, from Luke i. 30, 
&c. The auditors were all extremely affected 
with this discourse, and passed the highest en- 
comiums on it. All thought the preacher ex- 
celled himself: but little did they think, that, 
while he uttered himself with great eagerness, 
and was heated in his work, he was catching 
that illness, which would bring him to the 
grave. 

In the evening he found himself uncommon- 
ly weary. In the night he had a fever, with vio- 
lent pains all over him. Each following day he 
became worse and worse, and all perceived his 
dissolution approaching. 

On Monday. Jan. 6, 1687. he sent for the se- 
nior pastor of the church, to whom in the pre- 
sence of all his family he expressed himself thus. 



46 THE LIFE OF 

Sir, I was desirous to see you, and to make my dy- 
ing declaration before you. I am a miserable sin- 
ner before God. I most heartily beseech him to 
shew me mercy for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
J hope he will hear my prayer. He has prom ised 
to hear the cries of repenting sinners. I adore him 
for blessing my ministry. It has not been fruitless 
in his church ; it is an effect of God's grace, and I 
adore his providence for it. 

After pausing a while he added. J have care- 
fully examined all religions. None appear to me 
worthy of the zvisdom of God, and capable of lead- 
ing man to happiness but the christian religion. I 
have diligently studied popery and the reformation. 
The protestant religion, I think, is the only good re- 
ligion. It is all found in the holy scriptures, the 
word of God. From this as from a fountain all 
religion must be drawn. Scripture is the root, the 
protestant religion is the trunk and branches of the 
tree. It becomes you all to keep steady to it. 
The pastor told him, he was not surprized to 
hear him express himself so, after what he had 
preached and printed in books, which had so 
greatly edified the church, . . Ah ! break off, 
said he, interrupting him, let us ?iot speak of 
praises at a time when moments are so precious, and 
when they ought to be employed to a better use. 
Here, being fatigued, he asked to be put to 
bed. 

He frequently spoke of the happiness of those, 
who had left France for religion, and besought 
his family and friends to prize liberty of con- 
science. Mrs Claude asked him one day, whe- 
ther he was not sorry to leave her ? replied 
he, lam going to my God> and Heave you in his 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE 47 
hands in a free country. What can 1 desire more 
either for you or myself? 

Not being able to sit up, he desired a friend to 
write, as he dictated, a letter to the prince of 
Orange. It was short, gratulatory, and pathetic. 
With some trouble he signed it. His highness 
received it with great condescension ; and, all 
hero as he was, he perceived, as he perused it, 
that he was a man as well as the writer. He 
blessed, and wept for the departing Claude. 

A week before he died, with true patriarchal 
dignity, he sat up in his bed, and asked to speak 
with his son, and family, Son-, said he, tenderly 
embracing him, I am leaving you. The time of my 
departure is at hand. Silence, and sobs, and 
floods of tears followed, each clasped in the o- 
thers arms. The family all came, and asked his 
blessing. Most willingly, replied he, will I give 
it you. Mrs Claude kneeled down by the bed- 
side. My wife, said he f have always tenderly loved 
you. Be not afflicled at my death. The death of the 
faints is precious in the fight of God. In you I have 
feen a fincere piety. I blefs God for it. Be co?ifta?%t 
in ferving him zvith your whole heart. He will 
blefs you. I recommend my fon and his family to you 9 
and Ibefeech the Lord to blefs you. To his son, who, 
with an old servant, was kneeling by his mother, 
he said, among other things, Son, you have chosen 
the good part. Perform your office as a good pastor 9 
and God will bless you. Love and respect your mo- 
ther. Be mindful of this domestic. Take care she 
want nothing as long as she lives. I give you all 
my blessing. The afflicted family had not the 
power of making any answer, their tears and 
their silence spoke for them. The pastor being 
present, Mr Claude desired him to pray, adding, 



4S THE LIFE OF 

Be short, . . . I am so oppressed, that I can only 
attend to two of the great truths oj religion, the mer- 
cy of God, and the gracious aids of his holy spirit. 

After this a delirium seized him. , He had 
however, his senses at times, and always em- 
ployed those moments in edifying his attendants. 
Mons. Du Vivie visiting him in a lucid interval* 
and asking him of the state of his mind, he said 
with a deliberate composure, I know whom I have 
believed, and I am persuaded he is able to keep 
that, which I have committed unto him against 
that day. Another time the senior pastor asked 
him, Do you know me, Sir ? Tes, replied he, you 
are my pastor . . . My whole recourse is to the 
mercy of God . . . I expect a better life than this . . • 
help to fortify my meditations by your prayers. 
Speaking at another time to his Son, he said, 
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ is my only righteous- 
ness, I need no other, he is all sufficient. 

When Mons. Arbusse desired from the pulpit 
before prayer the prayers of the congregation 
for one of their brethren extremely ill, who de- 
served to be lamented by all good people, the 
congregation looked and listened : but when he 
added the sick person was Mr Claude, the whole 
assembly burst into a flood of tears. Public 
|§*ayer was repeatedly offered for him ; but the 
(Erne of his departure was come, and on January 
13, in the sixty eighth year of his age, he re- 
signed his soul into the hands of God, who gave 
it. 

Thus lived, and thus died the inestimable 
John Claude. Forty two years he served the 
church of God with all humility of mind, and with 
many tears, and temptations, which befel him by 
the lying in wait of men worse than Jews, though 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 4p 
called christians. In France he was in the high- 
est reputation. His friends loved him, and his 
adversaries feared him. His banishment com- 
pleted his credit abroad. His name has passed 
with lustre into other countries, and he yet lives 
and speaks among us by his excellent works. 

Mr. Isaac Claude, after the decease of his fa- 
ther, published five octavo volumes, his posthu- 
mous works. The following treatise is part of 
the first volume. The second and third volumes 
contain a body of christian divinity. The fourth 
consists of theses, expositions of passages of 
scripture, and so on. The fifth contains letters 
on religion, and on various subjects. As three 
of these letters clear up an article in our church- 
history, which regards Mr Claude, I cannot per- 
suade myself to put a period to this account 
without endeavouring to place it in its true light. 

In the year 1680, Dr Stillingfleet, who had 
made himself known by publishing an oily book 
with a nasty title, * and who afterward obtained 
the bishopric of Worcester by another book af- 
firming the right of bishops to vote in parliament 
in capital cases ; he who pleaded for that odious 
tyrant Laud, and who thought Locke's essay 
dangerous to the faith; Stillingfleet, I say, 
preached a sermon before the Lord Mayor on 
the mischief of separation, and became a sozver of 
discord among brethren ! It was the price of pre- 
ferment then. This was printed, and in it the 
dissenters were all condemned as schismatics, 
and gravely advised not to complain Of persecu- 
tion. Owen, Baxter, Alsop, Howe and others, 
answered this seditious libel with great clearness 



* A weapon^/v* for the church's wounds* 1^95. 

G 



5© THE LIFE OF 

and spirit. The Priest, driven to distress, got 
Compton, Bishop of London, to write to Claude 
Le Moyne, and other French presbyterians, for* 
their opinion of English presbyterianism. They 
gave complaisant ; but wary answers. These 
letters of French non-conformists were publish- 
ed by Stillingfleet as suffrages for episcopacy, 
and against non-conformity, and they were 
tacked to a book of his own about schism. There 
could not be a more glaring absurdity ; for no 
krt can make that a crime at Dover, which is at 
the same time a virtue at Calais. Episcopacy 
and non-conformity rest on the same arguments 
in both kingdoms* and a man, who does not 
know this, is not fit to write on the controversy, 
between non-conformists and episcopalians. Mr 
Claude complained bitterly of this ungenerous 
treatment ; but the letters, that contained these 
complaints, were concealed till his death* Our 
historian, Neale, therefore> fell into the mistake 
of allowing, that the French presbyterians fa- 
voured English episcopacy: but very properly 
adds, their suffrages, supposing them to be given 
against us, were of no value in an argument* 
which was not to be determined by a majority 
of votes. * 

After Mr. Claude's decease, his soil printed 
the letters. In one to a Lady* who had sent 
him the bishop's packet, dated at Paris, April 16, 
1681, he declares— that he was astonished to 
see his letter printed— that he wished to see 
christians united : but that he had 'written on the 
subject with great caution™ that his chief de- 
sign was to remove that calumny, which som@ 



* Hi/L qfPuvi 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 5 e 
had cast on them, charging them with denying 
the possibility of being saved in the episcopal 
church — that he had freely taxed the bishops 
with their severity— and that he had only ex- 
pressed his desire of union in the form of a wish. 
All this is very different from a justification of 
episcopal tyranqy. In another letter to Comp- 
ton of the same date, he tells him— that he had 
received the book and his own letter : but that 
he did not understand English enough to judge 
of them — that he never intended to have his 
letter printed — that, had Stillingfleet consulted 
him, he would not have agreed to the publican 
tion of it. " I am persuaded, adds he, you will 
not take it ill, if I say, on your side, you ought to 
contribute all you can to an union with the non- 
conformists without a party spirit, and with all 
prudence and moderation. You, my lords the 
bishops, are blamed for your eagerness to per- 
secute others by penal laws as if they were ene- 
mies. You are blamed for your church-govern- 
ment which, it is said, is as arbitrary and des- 
potic over ministers as that of the popish pre- 
lates. You are complained of for not admit- 
ting; any person to the ministry without making 
oath that episcopacy is of divine right, which is 
a cruel rack for conscience. You are complain- 
ed of for requiring the ministers of other pro*? 
testant churches to be re-ordained, when they 
come among you, while you admit others, or- 
dained by popish prelates, to exercise their mi? 
nistry without re-ordination. Your bishops are 
blamed for their rigid attatchment to offensive 
ceremonies, for which they contend ianquampro 
aris etfocis. In the name of God, my Lord, en- 
deavour to remove these grounds of complaint, 

G a 



5 2 THE LIFE OF 

if they be true; or, if they be not, clear your- 
selves, and let all Europe know, that there is no- 
thing, which the glory of God, and the good of 
his church require of you, that you are not ready 
to do; for, allow me to tell you, it is not enough 
for your justification to affirm, that your own 
ministry is lawful, and that they, who separate 
from you, are guilty of schism ; you must go on, 
and prove that you give no cause, no pretext for 
separation— that on the contrary you do all in 
your power to prevent it — and that, far from 
chafing and irritating people's minds, you en- 
deavour by all gentle methods to conciliate them. 
I beg pardon, my Lord, if I have given too freely 
into the emotions of my own zeal, &c/' 

/The case, then, is this. Episcopalians, not 
being able to maintain their cause by argument, 
endeavoured to do it by majority of votes. In 
order to procure these, they sent a false state of 
the case to the French Protestants. The 
French, as soon as they understood the true state 
of the case, complained of having been treated 
with duplicity, and declared against the bishops, 
and against the cause, which they were endea- 
vouring to support. 

Had Mr. Claudelived a hundred years longer, 
he would hav e seen now and then a Burnet and 
a Hoadley making a few feeble efforts to relieve 
conscience : but generally suspected, often abu- 
sed, and always carried along the stream by a 
succession of Stillingfleets and Comptons. He 
would have seen a modest petition for freedom 
from penal laws, unaccompanied with any re- 
quest for establishment, incorporation, prefer- 
ment, or even the crumbs that fall from recto- 
rial tables, rejected by English bishops. He 



MONSIEUR CLAUDE. 53 
would have been convinced, that it wouldbe do- 
ing such men too much honour ever hereafter to 
ask their votes in favour of religious liberty, 
either in the dasrardly fawning style of free and 
candid disquisitions, or in the nervous language 
of petitioning non-conformists, habituated to 
free inquiry at home, and frankness of expres- 
sion abroad. In a word, he would have been 
more non-conformable than ever; he would have 
said with one of old, * I will walk at liberty, 

FOR. I SEEK THY PRECEPTS, I WILL SPEAK OF THY 
TESTIMONIES ALSO BEFORE KINGS, AND WILL NOT 
BE ASHAMED. REMOVE FROM ME THE WAY OF 
LYING, AND GRACIOUSLY GRANT ME THY LAW! 



* Pfal. cxis. 45, 46. 29. 



A N 



ESSAY 

ON THE 

COMPOSITION of a SERMON. 



CHAP, t 

ON THE dHOICE OF TEXTS * 

THERE are in general jive parts of a fermon, 
the exordium, the connection, the divifion, the 
difcuflion, and the application : but, as connection 
and divifion are parts which ought to be extremely 
fhort, we can properly reckon only three parts : ex- 

* The prefent cuftom of reading a text of fcripture, to 
ferve for the ground of a difcourfe, is derived from the time of 
Ezra* Ezra, accompanied by feveral Levites, in a public con- 
gregation of men and women, afcended the pulpit, opened the 
book of the law, (the people all rifing from their feats on his 
opening the book.) addrefTed a prayer to God, to which the 
people faid Amen, and read in the law of God diflitiBly y and gav& 
the fenfe> andcaufed them to under/land the readings Neh. viii. 6, 7» 
8. In later times Mofes was thus read in thefynagogues every Jab- 
bath-day. Acts xv. 21. To this laudable cuftom our Saviour 
conformed, and, in the fynagogue at Nazareth, read a pafTage 
in lfaiah, clofed the book, after he had read it, returned it to the 
minifter, fat down, and preached from the text. Luke iv. 16, &c. 
The apoftles followed his example, A&s xviii. 4. the primitive 
fathers theirs, and the cuftom prevails over all the chriftian 
world at this day. This practice, however, was interrupted 
in the dark times of popery ; and the ethics of Arijlotle were read 
in many churches on Sundays, inftead of the holy fcriptures ? 
as Melanfthon and others teftify. St* Baylti gen. diet. Ariflotte, 
rem. U* 



( ss ) 

ordium, difcuflion, and application. However, we 
will juft take notice of connection and divifion after 
we have fpoken a little On the choice of texts, and on 
a few general rules of difcuffing them. * 

1. Never cboofe fuch texts as have not a co?nplete 
fenfe ; for only impertinent and foolifh people will 
attempt to preach from one or two words, which 
fignify nothing. 

2. Not only words which have a complete fenfe 
of themfelvesmuft be taken: but they muft alfo include 
the complete fenfe of the writer, whofe words they 
are ; for it is his language, and they are his ^enti- 
ments, which you explain, .f For example, mould 
you take thefe words of 2 Cor. i. 3. Blefed be God, 
the father of our Lord Jefus Chrifl, the father of 
wiercies and the God of all comfort, and flop here, 
you would include a complete fenfe ; but it would 
not be the apoftle's fenfe. Should you go farther, 
and add, who comforteth us in, all our tribulation, it 
would not then be the complete fenfe of St Paul, nor 
would his meaning be wholly taken in, unlefs you 
went on to the end of the fourth verfe* When the 
complete fenfe of the facred writer is taken, you 
may ftop ; for there are few texts in fcripture, which 
do not afford matter fufficient for a fermon ; and it 

* Bifiiop "Wilkin fays, <e Preaching mould have its rules and 
Canons, whereby men may be directed to the eafieft and readier!: 
way for the practice of it. Befides all academical fcudies of 
languages, fciences, divinity, &c. befides all thefe, there is a 
particular art of preaching. — Two abilities are requilite in every 
one j a right underitanding of found doctrine, and an ability to 
propound, confirm, and apply it to others. The firft may be 
without the other \ and, as a man may be a good lawyer, and 
yet not a good pleader ; fo he may be a good, divine, and yet not 
a good preacher. 

\ The preacher muft tale the fenfe of the 'writer. Offences a- 
gainft this obvious rule are numberlefs. 



( 57 ) 



is equally inconvenient to take too much text, or too 
little ; both extremes muft be avoided; 

When too little text is taken, you muft digrefs 
from the fubjed to find fomething to fay ; flouriihes 
of wit and imagination muft be difplayed, which are 
not of the genius of the pulpit; and, in one word, it 
will make the hearers think, thai felf is more preach- 
ed than Jefus Chrift, and that the preacher aims ra- 
ther at appearing a wit, than at inftruc~ting and edi- 
fying his people. 

When too much text is taken, either many imp or- 
tant confederations, which belong to the paflage, muft 
be left out, or a tedious prolixity muft follow. A 
proper meafure, therefore, muft be chofen, and nei- 
ther too little, nor too much matter taken. Some 
fay, preaching is defigned only to make fcripture up* 
derftood, and therefore they take a great deal of text, 
and are cont ent with giving the fenfe, and with making 
fome principal reflections : but this is a miftake : for 
preaching is not only intended to give the fenfe of 
fcripture, but alfo of theology in general ; and, in 
fhort, to explain the whole of religion, which can- 
not be done, if too much matter be taken : fo that, I 
think, the manner commonly ufed in our churches 
is the moft reafonable, and the moft conformable to 
the end of preaching. Every body can read fcrip- 
ture with notes and comments to obtain fimply the 
fenfe : but we cannot inftruft, folve difficulties, un- 
fold mvfteries, penetrate into the ways of divine wif- 
dom, eftablifh truth, refute error, comfort, correct, 
and cenfure, fill the hearers with an admiration of 
the wonderful works and w T ays of God, inflame their 
fouls with zeal, powerfully incline them to piety and 
holinefs, which are the ends of preaching, un/efs we 

H 



( 53 f 



go farther than barely enabling them to underftand 
fcripture. * 

To be more particular, regard mull be paid to 
circumftances, times, places, and perfons, and texts 
muit be chofen relative to them, ift, In regard to 

'TIT* 

times. I do not, I cannot, approve of the cuftom. 
of the late Monf. Daille, who ufed to preach on the 
feaft-days of the church of Rome, and to choofe texts 
on the fubjeds of their feafts, turning them to cen- 
fure fuperftition : 1 do not blame his zeal againfk 
superftition : but as for the Romifh feafts, they are 
for the members of the church of Rome, and net 
for us ; and, it is certain, our hearers will neither be 
inftruc>ed, nor encouraged by fuch forts of fubjedte : 
methinks they mould be preached, feldom and fo- 
berly. It is not fo with particular times, which be- 
long to ourfelves, which are of two forts, ordinary , 
which we call ftata tempora which every year re- 
turn at the fame feafons ; or extraordinary, which 
fall out by accident, or to fpeak more properly, when 
it pleafes God. Of the firft kind are Lord's fupper- 
days ; or days which are folemnized amongft us, as 
Chriftmas-day, Eafter, Whitfuntide, Afcenfion-day, 

* The Engliih preachers (fays a very fenfible writer) are, 
it Is certain, more diftinguifhed by their jujlnefs of fentiment, and 
ftrength of reafoning than by their oratorial powers, or talents of 
dffemng the pajfions. More folicitous to convince than perfuade^ 
they choofe to employ their abilities in endeavouring to imprefs 
the mind with a fenfe of the truths they deliver, by the force 
of argumentation, mftead of routing the afFeclions by the ener- 
gy of their eloquence. — We meet with no examples in their " 
writings of thofe ftrokes of paffion which penetrate and cleave 
the heart at once, or of that rapid over-powering eloquence, 
which carries every thing before it like a torrent. — They feern 
to have confidered mankind in the fame light in which Voltaire 
regarded the celebrated Dr Clarke, as mere reasoning ma- 
chines : they feem to have confidered them as purely intel- 
lectual; void of pa&on and feasibility. 



( J» ) 

New-year's-day, and Good-friday, as it is called, On 
thefe days particular texts mould be chofen, which 
fuit the iervice of the day ; for it would difcover 
great negligence to take texts on fuch days, which 
have no relation to them. It is not to be queftioned 
but on thefe days peculiar efforts ought to be made, 
becaufe then the hearers come with raifed expecta- 
tions, which, if not fatisfied, turn into contempt, and 
a kind of indignation againft the preacher. 

Particular days not fixed, but occafwnal^ are faft- 
<lays, ordination-days, days on which the flock muft 
be extraordinarily comforted, either on account of 
the falling out of feme great fcandal, the exercife of 
fome great affliction, or the inflicting of feme great 
cenfure. On faft-days, it is plain, particular texts 
muft be exprefsly chofen for the purpofe : but on 
other occafions it muft reft on the preacher's judg- 
ment ; for moft texts may be ufed extraordinarily, 
to comfort, exhort, or cenfure j and except the fub- 
je& in hand be extremely important, the fafeft way 
is not to change the ufual text * 

For ordination-days extraordinary texts and agree- 
able to the fubjecl: in hand muft be taken, whether it 
regards the ordainer, or the ordained ; for very often 
he, who is ordained in the morning, preaches in the 
afternoon. 

I add one word touching fermons in ftrange 

* I fhould think by texte accoututne, Mr Claude means fuch 
3 text as would come in courfe in a precompofed fet of fermons. 
This was the method of the excellent Matthew Henry. " In 
his more conftant way of preaching, he fixed upon a certain 
fit fubjeSlSy fitly ranged and methodized under general heads : 
but together with thefe there were intermixed many occafional 
difcourfes, fuited to the (late of the people, or to any remarkable 
difpenfations of providence, which he was always very careful 
to obferve, and to record, and to improve by preaching to the 
advantage of himfelf and others.'' 

Life of Matt. Henry, p. I2G» 

II 2 



( 60 ) 

churches. i e Do not choofe a text which appears 
cdd^ or the choice of which yanity may be fuppofed 
to dictate. 2. Do not choofe a text of cenfure ; for a 
ftranger has no bufinefs to cenfure a congregation, 
which he does not mfpect : unlefs he have a parti- 
cular call to it, being either fent by a fynod, or in- 
treated by the church itfelf. In fuch a cafe the cen- 
fure mult be conducted with wifdom, and tempered 
with fweetnefs. Nor 3, choofe a text lead'mg to ca- 
rious knotty quejiions; then it would be faid, the man 
meant to preach himfelf. But 4. Choofe a text of 
ordinary doctrine, in difcuffing which, doctrine and 
morality may be mixed, and rather let moral things 
be faid by way of exhortation and confolation than 
by way of cenfure : not that the vicious mould not 
becenfured ; for reproof is cjfential 'to preaching : but 
it muft be given foberly, and in general terms, when 
we are not with our own flocks. * 

* Mr Claude does not mention funeral-fermons, which with 
us are fometimes jufl occafions of offence, but which might be 
well improved to the advantage of the living, if properly 
mariaged. 



CHAP. II. 

GENERAL RULES OF SERMONS. 

A LTHOUGH the following general rules are 
Jl jL well known, yet they are too little practifed : 
they ought, however, to be conftantly regarded. 

1. A fermon mould clearly and purely explain a 
text y make the fenfe eafy to be comprehended, and 
place things before the people's eyes fo that they may 
be underftood without difficulty. This rule con- 
demns embarraffment and ohfeurity^ the moft difa- 



( 61 ) 

greeable thing in the world in a gofpel-pulplt. It 
ought to be remembered, that the greateft part of the 
hearers are fimple people, whofe profit, however 
muft be aimed at in preaching : but it is impoffible 
to edify them, unlefs you be very clear. As to learned 
hearers, it is certain, they will always prefer a clear 
before an obfcure fermon ; for, firft, they will confi- 
der the fimple, nor will their benevolence be content 
if the illiterate be not edified ; and next, they will be 
loth to be driven to the neceffity of giving too great 
an attention, which they cannot avoid, if the preach- 
er be obfcure, The minds of men, whether learned 
or ignorant, generally avoid pain ; and the learned 
have fatigue enough in the ftudy, without increafing 
it at church, -f 

2. A iermon muft give the entire fenfe of the whole 
text, in order to which it muft be confidered in 
every view. This rule condemns dry and barren 
explications, wherein the preacher difcovers neither 
ftudy nor invention, and leaves unfaid a great num- 

. f " That which generally occafions obfcurky (fays Mr Rol- 
ling is our endeavouring to explain ourfelves always with bre- 
vity and concifenefs. One had better fay too much than too little. 
As obfcurity is the fault, which the preacher mould chiefly a- 
void, and as the auditors are not allowed to interrupt him, when 
they meet with any thing cbfcure. St Auftin advifes him to 
read in the eyes and countenances of his auditors, whether they 
under ft and him or not ; and to repeat the fame thing, by giving 
it different turns, till he perceives he is underftood 5 an advan- 
tage which thofe cannot have, who by a fervile dependance on 
their memories learn their fermoijs by heart, and repeat them as 
fo many leffons*" 

Bifhop Burnet, after much on the fame fubje£fc, fays, " a 
preacher is to fancy himfelf as in the room of the mojl unlearned 
man in the whole parifh, and muft therefore put fuch parts of his 
aifcourfes as he would have all underftand, in fo plain a form of 
words, that it may not be beyond the meanejl of them. This he 
will certainly ftudy to do, if his defire is to edify them, rather 
than to make them admire himfelf as a learned and high fpoken 
man." PaJ}. care, chap. 9. 



( m ) 

ber of beautiful things, with which his text would 
have furniihed him. Preachments of this kind are 
extremely difguftful ; the mind is neither elevated, 
nor informed, nor is the heart at all moved. In mat- 
ters of religion and piety, not to edify much is to 
deftroy much ; and a fermon cold and poor will do 
more mifchief in an hour, than a hundred rich fer- 
mons can do good. I do not mean, that a preacher 
ftiould always ufe his utmoft efforts, nor that he fhould 
always preach alike well, for that neither can nor 
ought to be. There are extraordinary occafions, for 
which all his vigour mull be referred. But I mean, 
that, in ordinary and ufual fermons, a kind of pleni- 
tude fhould fatisfy and content the hearers. The 
preacher muft not always labour to carry the people 
beyond themfelves, nor to ravifh them into extacies : 
but he muft always fatisfy them, and maintain in 
them an efteem and an eagernefs for practical piety, * 

3. The preacher muft be wife, fobcr^ chafie. I 
fay wife, in oppofition to thofe impertinent people, 
who utter jefts^ comical comparifons, quirks and ex- 
travagancies ; and fuch are a great part of the preach- 
ers of the church of Rome, 

I fay fober, in oppofition to thofe rafli fpirits, who 
would penetrate all, and curioufly dive into myfte- 
ries beyond the bounds of modefty. Such are thofe, 
who make no difficulty of delivering in the pulpit ail 

* Dean Prideaux fays, " «ne good mmifter, by his weekly 
preaching, and daily good example, would fet religion for- 
warder than any two of the beft juft ices of the peace, by their 
exa&eft diligence, could. It is not to be doubted (adds he) but 
that if this method (of conftant praclical preaching) were once 
dropped among us, the generality of the people, whatever elfe 
may be done to obviate it, would in feven years time relapfe 
into as bad a (late of barbarity as was ever in practice among 
the worft of our Danifhox Saxon anceftors." Prid. cm. part 1 b.o> 



( « I 

the Speculations of the fchools, on the myftery of the 
trinity, the incarnation, the eternal reprobation of 
mankind ; fuch as treat of queftions beyond our 
knowledge ; — what would have been if Adam had 
abo de in innocence, what the ftate of fouls after death ; 
or what the refurre&ion ; and our ftate of eternal 
glory in paradife. Such are they, who fill their fer- 
irions with the different interpretations of a term, or 
the different opinions of interpreters on any paiTage 
of fcripture ; who load their hearers with tedious re- 
citals of ancient hiftory; or an account of the divers 
herefies which have troubled the church upon any 
matter ; all thefe are contrary to the fobriety of which 
we fpeak, and which is one of the moft excellent pul- 
pit virtues. 

I fay farther chajle. In oppofition to thofe bold 
and impudent geniufes who are not afhamed of fay- 
ing many things, which produce unclean ideas in the 
mind. A preacher cannot be called chafte, who 9 
fpeaking of the conception of Jefus Chrift in the vir- 
gin's womb by the power of the holy Ghoft with- 
out the intervention of man, is not careful of faying 
any thing, that may {hock the modefty of fome, and 
give occafion of difcourfe to the profanity of others. 
There are I know not how many fiibjedts of this 
kind ; as when the eternal generation of Jefus Chrift 
the Son of God is fpoken of ; when the term rege?ie- 
ration is explained, which fcripture ufeth to exprefs 
our converfion ; or when w r e treat of that feed of 
God, of which, according to St. John, we are born; 
or when we inforce the duties of hufbands to wives* 
or of wives to hufbands ; or when we fpeak of the 
love of Jefus Chrift to his church, under the notion 
of a conjugal relation; or when eternal felicity is fpo- 
ken of under the image of a banquet % or of a mar- 



( 64 ) 

riage-fea/L On all fiich fubjecls, chaftity fhould 
weigh the expreffions, and make a judicious choice, 
in order to keep the hearers minds at the greateft di- 
ftance from all forts of carnal and terreltial ideas. 
The likelieft way of fucceeding in thefe cafes is to be- 
ware of preffing metaphorical terms too far ; to keep 
in general coniiderations, and if poffible to explain 
the metaphorical terms in few words, and afterwards 
cleave entirely to the thing itfelf. * 

* For what regards metaphorical language fee the other 
note in this chapter, No, (6) ; at prefent let us exemplify this 
rule from Mr. Saurin. The fubjecl: is regeneration, the text John 
iii. firft five verfes. He obferves, that the term is a trope, and 
muft lit be retrained, becaufe, fays he, it is impoflible to under- 
ftand a metaphor if we do not diveft it of every thing foreign from 
the fubjecl: in queftion. 2- It muft be juftified, for the change 
fpoken of under the emblem of a new birth, tho' expreffed in fi- 
gurative language, is yet a real change. 3. The idea which a 
new birth gives of this change is fo perfect, that it might terrify 
timorous chriftians, it muft therefore be qualified, 4. The quali- 
fications, of which the fubjecl: is capable, are apt to lull fome into 
fecuiity, who, under pretence cf infirmities infeparable from the 
bell of men, allow themfelves in vices incompatible with a ftate 
of grace ; this expreffion therefore muft be guarded. 

1. " This reftriclion (adds he) is neceflary, becaufe there is no 
one author without exception, whofe opinions may not be naif* 
taken, if his companions be ft retched beyond due bounds : and 
this, which is true of all authors, is inconteftibly true of the o- 
riental writers ; for as their imaginations were naturally more 
lively, their metaphors were more bold, and the bolder the me- 
taphors, the more need of reftriclion^ — — This he inftances in 
feveral things fimilar to Mr. Claude's obfervations, and clofes 
this part by faying, u if you do not make thefe reftriclions, you 
will pufri the metaphor too far, and consequently make indifcreet 
companions between this new birth and a birth properly fo called; 
you would form notions of it not only unworthy of being re- 
ceived, but even of being refuted in fuch a place as this. 

Mr. Saurin then proceeds to guard againft the oppofite mif- 
take, which many have fallen into, by obferving that there is a 
real change actually required in order to falvation, a change of i- 
deas, a change of will, a change of taPce; a change of hope ; a 
change, in fhort, of all falfe fchemes of felicity for the one true 
®ne ; &c. Saur, fer, torn. 7 .fir. onzhne. 



( 65 ) 

4. A preacher muft be fimpk and grave. Simple^ 
fpeaking things full of good natural fenfe without me- 
taphyfical peculations; for none are more imperti- 
nent than they who deliver in the pulpit abftract fpe- 
culations, definitions in form, and fcholaftic quef- 
tions, which they pretend to derive from their texts ; 
—as on the manner of the exiftence of angels, the 
means whereby they communicate their ideas to each 
other ; the manner in which ideas eternally fubfift in 
the divine underftanding ; with many more of the 
fame clafs, all certainly oppoiite to fimpjicity* To 
fimple I zdd grave, becaufe all forts of mean thoughts 
and exprelTions, all forts of vulgar and proverbial 
fayings, ought to be avoided. The pulpit is«he feat 
of good natural fenfe ; and the good fenfe of good 
men. On the one hand then you are not to philofo- 
phize too much, and refine your fubject. out of fight; 
nor on the other to abafe yourfelf to the language and 
thoughts of the drees of the people. * 

1 

* But yet in companion to the dregs of the people, who, with 
all their ignorance, have fouls, it ought to be remembered, that 
their minds are accelTible only by their own way of thinking and 
fpeaking, and theirs is a different language and a different habit 
of thinking from others in more cultivated life. 

Luther's biographer, having related a faying of his on this fub- 
je£t, adds, by way of expofition, the practice of this reformer in 
diffufing knowledge at the reformation, three things, fays he 
form a Divine, Medication, Preaching, and Experience ; and 
three things are required of a Minifter, to read diligently, to 
pray earneilly, and always to be learning fomething. They are 
the belt, preachers, who teach the people in a plain perfpicuous 
and eafy manner. When he was once examining in a village of 
Saxony, a countryman repeating thefe words of the Creed, i be- 
lieve in God the Father Almighty : he aiked him, what almighty 
meant ; the Boor anfwering he did not know, truly fays Luther, 
neither I nor any of the learned know ; but however you mufl 
believe, that God is your Father, w^ho can and will fave you and 
yours. Melch. Adam, vitse Gern, Theol. in vita Lutherie. 



( 66 ) 

5. The underftanding muft be informed, but in a 
manner, however, which ejfecls the heart ; either to 
comfort the hearers, or to excite them to ads of piety 5 
repentance or holinefs* There are two ways of do- 
ing this, one formal, in turning the fubject to moral 
ufes, and fo applying it to the hearers ; the other in 
the flmple choice of the things fpoken ; for if they be 
good? folid, evangelic, and edifying of themfelves, 
fhould no application be formally made, the auditors 
would make it themfelves ; becaufe fubjects of this 
kind are of fuch a nature, that they cannot enter the 
underftanding without penetrating the heart, I do 
not blame the method of fome preachers, who, when 
they have opened fome point of doctrine, or made 
fome important obfervation, immediately turn it into 
a brief moral application to the hearers \ this Mr 
Daille frequently did ; yet I think it mould not be 
made a conftant practice, becaufe, ] ft, what the hearer 
Is ufed to, he will be prepared for, and fo it will lofe 
its effect ; and 2dly, becaufe you would thereby in- 
terrupt your explication, and confequently alfo the 
attention of the hearer, which is a great inconveni- 
ence. Neverthelefs, when it is done but feldom, and 
feafonably, great advantage may be reaped. 

But there is another way of turning doctrines to- 
moral ufes, which in my opinion is far-more excel- 
lent, authoritative, grand, and effectual ; that is, by 
treating the doctrine contained in the text, in a way 
of perpetual application. * This way produces ex- 
cellent effects, for it pleafes, inftructs, and affects all 
together. But neither muft this be made habitual^ 
for it would fatigue the hearer, nothing being more 

* This fubject is fully handled in Chap. VII. for which 
reafon I omit one page of Mr. Claude heie, becaufe its fubftance 
Is repeated in the chapter referred to* 



( 67 ) 



delicate, nor fooner difcouraged than the human 
mind. There are fall-days, Lord's-fupper-days, and 
many fuch feafonable times for this method. This 
way, as I have faid, is full of admirable fruits ; but it 
muft be well executed, with power and addrefs, with 
choice of thoughts and expreffions, otherwife the 
preacher will make himfelf ridiculous, and provoke 
the people to fay, 

Ouid dignum tanto feret hie promijTor hiatu ? 
Parturiunt montes \ nafcetur ridiculus mus, 

6. One of the moil important precepts for the 
difcuflion of a text, and the compofition of a fermon, 
is, above all things, to avoid excefs : Ne quid nirnis. 

I. There muft not be too much genius, I mean not 
too many brilliant, fparkling, and ftriking things, for 
they would produce very bad efFecls, The auditor 
will never fail to fay 9 the man preaches himfelf, aims 
to difplay his genius, and is not animated by the fpirit 
of God ; but by that of the world. Befide, the hear- 
er would be overcharged ; the mind of man has its 
bounds and meafures, and as the eye is dazzled with 
too ftrong a light, fo is the mind offended with the 
glare of too great an affemblage of beauties. Farther, 
it would deftroy the principal end of preaching, 
which is to fanclify the conscience; for when the 
mind is overloaded with too many agreeable ideas, 
it has not leifure tp reflect on the objects, and with- 
out reflection the 'heart is unaffeded. Moreover, 
ideas which divert the mind, are not very proper to 
move the conscience ; they flatter the imagination, 
and that is all. Such a preacher will oblige peo- 
ple to fay of him, He has genius, a lively and 
fruitful imagination : but he is not folid. In fine, it 
is not poflible for a man, who piques himfelf on fit 

I 2 



( 68 ) 



ling his fermons with vivacities of imagination, to 
maintain the fpirit all along ; he will therefore become 
a tirefome tautologift ; nor is it hard in fuch fer- 
mons to difccver many falfe brilliancies, as we fee 
daily. * 

2. A fermon mirft not be overcharged with doc- 
trine^ becaufe the hearers memories cannot retain it 
all, and by aiming to keep all, they will lofe all ; 
and becaufe you will be obliged either to be excef- 
fively tedious, or to propofe the docTrine in a dry, 
barren, fcholaftic manner, which will deprive it of all 
its beauty and efficacy, A fermon fhould initrucl, 

* In order to render the productions of genius regular 
and juft, as well as elegant and ingenious, the difcerning and 
coercive power of judgment fhould mark and reft rain the excur- 
fions of a wanton imagination ; in other words, the aufterity of 
reafon mould blend itfelf with the gaiety of the graces. — The 
proper office of judgment in composition, is to compare the ideas 
which imagination collects ; to obferve their agreement or dis- 
agreement, their relations and refemblances; to point out fuch 
as are of a homogeneous nature ; to mark and reject fuch as are 
difcordant ; and finally, to determine the truth and utility of 
the inventions or difcoveries which are produced by the powers 
of imagination. This faculty is, in all its operations, cool, at- 
tentive, and confederate. It canvafles the defign, ponders the 
lentiments, examines their propriety and connexion, and reviews 
the whole compofition with fevere impartiality. Thus it appears 
to be in every refpecl: a proper counterbalance to the rambling 
and volatile power of imagination. Effay on genius, b.'uf. i. 

See Rollin on film ng thoughts, Belles lettres, vol ii. He re- 
marks, from Ouintilian, that Seneca introduced this vicious 
tafte at Rome. Abundat dulcibus vitiis. Thefe fhining thoughts, 
fays he, refemble not a luminous flaHe : but fparks flying 
through fmoke* In Montagne's opinion, " the tardy genius 
makes the better preacher, and the quick genius the abler law- 
yer ; becaufe the former may take what time he pleafes to pre- 
pare himfelf, and the thread of his difcourfe is carried on with- 
out the lead interruption : but the pleader is obliged to be ready 
every moment to enter the lifts, and the unforefeen anfwers of 
his antagonifl either confound his arguments, or oblige him to 
ftrike into a new courfe of reafoning." EJftys, book i. chap. 10. 



( 69 ) 

pleafe, and afted ; that is, it fhould always do thefe 
as much as poffible. As the dodrinal part, which is 
inftrudive, fhould always be propofed in an agree- 
able and affeffing manner ; fo the agreeable parts 
fhould be propofed in an inftruclive manner ; and 
even in the conclufion, which is defigned wholly to 
affed, agreeablenefs muft not be neglected, nor al- 
together inftrudion. Take care then not to charge 
your fermon with too much matter, f 

3. Care muft alfo be taken never to ft rain any 
particular part, either in attempting to exhauft it, or 
to penetrate too far into it. If you aim at exhauft- 
ing a fubjed, you will be obliged to heap up a number 
of common things without choice or difcernment ; 
if at penetrating, you cannot avoid falling into many 
curious queftions, and unedifying fubtilties ; and fre- 
quently in attempting it you will diftil the fubjed 
till it evaporates. 

4. Figures muft not be overft rained. This is done by 
ftretching metaphor into allegory, or by carrying a 
parallel too far. A metaphor is changed into an 
allegory, when a number of things are heaped up, 
which agree to the fubjed, in keeping clofe to the 
metaphor. As in exp^ining this text, God is a fun 
and Jhield; it would be ftretching the metaphor into 
an allegory to make a great colledion of what God 
is in himfelf ; what to us ; what he does in the un- 

* To be overcharged with doctrine is the great fault of Dr 
Owen's, and Dr Goodwin's Sermons ; and it is attended with 
all the inconveniences mentioned by Mr Claude. It was com- 
mon at that time of day to make thirty or forty remarks before 
the immediate consideration of the text came ; thefe fuddenly 
pop up their heads, and inftantiy difappear. Indeed had each 
of them been difcufled, each would have afforded matter enough 
for a whole fermon. There is no fault more common among a 
certain order of preachers than this. 



c n ) 

derftanding and confcience of the believer ; what he 
operates on the wicked § what his abfence caufeth ; 
and all thefe under terms, which had a perpetual re- 
lation to the fun. Allegories may be fometimes ufed 
very agreeably : but they muft not be ftrained, that 
Is, all, that can be faid on them, muft not be faid. A 
parallel is run too far, when a great number of con- 
formities between the figure, and the thing repre- 
fented by the figure, are heaped together. This is 
almoft the perpetual vice of mean and low preach- 
ers ; for when they catch a figurative word, or a 
metaphor, as when God's word is called a Jire^ or a 
/word '; or the church a houfe y or a dove ; or Jefus 
Chrift a light ^ afun^ a vine^ or a door* they never fail 
making a long detail of conformities between the 
figures and the fubjed:s themfelves ; and frequently 
fay ridiculous things. This vice muft be avoided, 
and you muft be content to explain the metaphor in 
a few words, and to mark the principal agreements, 
in order afterward to cleave to the thing itfelf. * 

* Mr Rollin, from Tully obferves, [that the fureft and eafiefl 
way to reprefent the beauty of a metaphor, and, in general, to 
explain the beautiful paflages in authors with juftnefs, is to fub- 
ftitute natural exprefiions inrtead of figurative, and to divert a 
very bright phrafe of all its ornaments, by reducing it to a Jim- 
pie proposition. Belles leltres, vol. ii, 

Sir Ifaac Newton, with that grandeur of mind peculiar to 
himfelf, fays, " For underflanding the prophecies, we are in the 
fir ft place, to acquaint ourfelves with the figurative language of 
the prophets. This language is taken from the analogy between 
the world natural, and an empire or kingdom confidered as a 
World politic. 

" Accordingly, the whole natural world confiding of heaven 
and earth, fignifies the whole world politic, confiding of thrones 
and people, or fo much of it as is confidered in the prophecy : 
and the things in that world fignify the analogous things in this. 
For the heavens and the things therein, fignify thrones and dig- 
nities, and thofe who enjoy them ; and the earth, with the things 
thereon, the inferior people. — Whence afcending towards hea- 
ven, and defcending to the earth, are put for rifing and falling in 



( 71 ) 

£ Reafoning mujl not be carried too far. This may 
be done many ways; either by long trains of reafons^ 
compofed of a quantity of proportions chained to- 
gether, or principles and confequences ; this way of 
reafoning is ernbarraffing and painful to the auditor: 
Or by making many branches of reafons, and efta* 
blifhing them one after another ; this is tirefome and 
fatiguing to the mind. The mind of man loves to 
be conducted in a more fmooth and eafy way; all 
mull not be proved at once ; but, fuppofing princi- 
ples, which are true and plain, and which you are 
capable of proving and fupporting, when it is ne- 
ceffary, you muft be content with ufmg them to 
prove what you have in hand. Yet I do not mean f 
that in reafoning, arguments fhould be fo fhort and 
dry, and propofed in fo brief a manner, as to diveft 
the truth of half its force, as many authors leave 
them. I only mean, that a due medium fhould be 
preferved ; that is,, that without fatiguing the mind 
and attention of the hearer, reafons fhould be placed 
in juft as much force and clearnefs, as are neceffary 
to produce the effect. 

Reafoning alfo may be overftrained by heaping 
great numbers of proofs on the fame fubjecl:. Nu- 
merous proofs are intolerable, except in a principal 
matter, which is like to be much queftioned or con- 
troverted by the hearers. In fuch a cafe you would 
be obliged to treat the fubjecl: fully and ex profeffo^ 
otherwife the hearers would confider your attempt 
to prove the matter as an ufelefs digrefiion. But 

power and honour. — A new dignity is fignifiedby a new name; 
moral and civil qualifications by garments ; honour and glory 
by fplendid apparel ; royal dignity by purple or fcarlet, or by a 
crown ; righteoufnefs by white and clean robes; wickednefs by 
fpotted and filthy garments," &c. On Dan, chap- ii. 



( % ) 



when you are obliged to treat a fubjeft fully, when 
that fubjecl is very important, when it is doubted 
and controverted, then a great number of proofs are 
proper. In fuch a cafe you muft propofe to convince 
and bear down the opponent's judgment, by mak- 
ing truth triumph in many different manners. In 
fuch a cafe, many proofs affociated together to pro- 
duce one effect, are like many rays of light, which 
naturally ftrengthen each other, and which all toge- 
ther form a body of brightnefs, which is irrefiftible.* 
6. You muft as much as poffible abftain from all 
forts of obfervations foreign from theology. In this 
clafs I place, i. Grammatical obfervations of every 
kind, which not being within the people's knowledge 
can only weary and difguftthem. They may never- 
thelefs be ufed when they farnifh an agreeable fenfe 
of the word, or open fome important cbfervation on 
the fubjecl: itfelf, provided it be done very feldom and 
very pertinently. 

2. Critical obfervations about different readings, 
different punctuations, &c. muft be avoided. Make 
all the ufe you can of critical knowledge yourfelf: 
but fpare the people the account, for it muft needs be 
very difagreeable to them. 

I add 3dly. Avoid philosophical and hiftorical 
obfervations, and all fuch as belong to rhetoric, or if 
you do ufe them, do not infill on them, and choofe 

* Mr Saurian in his fermon cn hclinejs^ after obferving how 
difficult it is to form an adequate idea of it, fays " Perhaps one 
of the principal caufes of its obfcurity, is its ciearnefs. For it is 
a truth, which we teach thofe, whom we form to the art of 
reafoning, that when an idea is carried to a certain degree of e- 
vidence and fimplicity^ all, that is added to clear, only ferves to 
obfcure and confound it. Is not this the caufe of many diffi- 
culties on the nature of juft and unjuil ?" Serfur la sainiete torn iv. 



( 73 ) 



only thofe, which give either feme light to the text, 
or heighten its pathos and beauty: all others muft be 
rejected. * 

Laftly. I fay the fame of paffages from Profane 
Authors, or Robbies , or Fathers, with which many 
think they enrich their fermons. This farrago is 
only a vain orientation of learning, and very often 
they, who fill their fermons with fuch quotations, 
know them only by relation of others. \ However, 

* Inftead of giving light' to the fubjecl:, what avail of ig- 
norance in the following paffage is thrown over what David 
calls a curious work in the Ioweft parts of the earth. That is, cu- 
rious though fecret, becoming the great author and preferver of 
nature. (i I faid to corruption thou art my father." This, with 
a little logic, we may make good in a literal fenfe. Nutrition 
(that is, the a£t. of nourifhment we fpeak of) is a kind of 
generation, 'lis fo, for there is tnotus a termino a quo, ad ter- 
minum ad quem; and 'tis Under no other fpecies of mottis, but 
generatioy and therefore fecundum partem, 'tis generation indeed* 
Well, nutrition is a generation, and confequently concoction is 
corruption, and 'tis fo; the meat we eat goes into the ftomach 
and liver, there it chylifies and fanguifies, lofes its form, and 
that is corruption, and out of this our bodies receive flelh, and 
grow in bulk and feature; fo then out of nutrition, as one pa- 
rent; and concoction, that is corruption, the other, we are bom 
every day in lumps, and begotten by piece-meals, and we may 
really fay to corruption, " Thou art my father," &c. 

Humphrey, Ser. vii. p. 201. 

What profound erudition ! rather, what abfurdity and im- 
pertinence ! 

(5.) Bifhop Burnet fays, c< The impertinent way 01 needlefs 
fetting out of the originals, and the vulgar verfion is worn out, 
the trifling mews of learning in many quotations of paffages, 
that few could underftand, do no more flat the auditory," &c. 
The bifhop faid this in 1692: but had his lordfhip lived till 
1760 odd, he might have feen a fermon publifhed in Englifh, with 
upwards of fixty fuch quotations. 

A medly of literature was formerly much in fafhion, and 
a French writer's remark is not inapplicable. «.« It required a 
prodigious deal of learning then to preach ill ; now=a-days it re- 
quires very little learning to preach well*" La Bruyere, charac 
Je fiecle. 

K 



( H ) 

I Would not blame a man who mould ufe them dis- 
creetly. A quotation not common, and properly 
made, has a very good effect. 



CHAP. III. 
Of Connection. 

HP HE connection is the relation of your text to 
foregoing or following verfes. To find this 
confider the fcope of the difcourfe, and confult 
commentators, particularly exercife your ow r n good 
fenfe ; for commentators frequently trifle, and give 
forced and far-fetched connections, all which ought 
to be avoided, for they are not natural and fome- 
times good fenfe will difcover the fcope and defign 
of a writer far better than this kind of writers; * 

* Every author propofes fome end in writing, this end 
muff needs agree with his general character, peculiar circurn- 
itances, &c. To obferve this defign is no fmall help towards 
understanding the biblical writers. On the contrary, to confi- 
der the whole bible as we confider the book of Proverbs, and 
to ground enormous doctrines on detached fentences, are grofs 
abfurdities, manifeft abufes of the word of God. The firft 
verfe of the eighth of Romans feems to have no connection 
with the laft verfe of the feventh ; but with the laft verfe of 
the fixth chapter. There is therefore now no condemnation to them 
ivhieh are in Ghrift Jefus. Why? becaufeSt Paul himfelf with 
his mind ferved the law of God, but with his flefh the law of 
fin ? no, but becaufe though the demerit of fin was death, yet 
the gift of God was eternal life. Therefore there is now no 
condemnation. The whole feventh chapter is then a parent-he* 
fis* So in the third of Ephefians, from the beginning of the 
iecond to the end of the thirteenth verfe is a parenthefis. Such 
parenthefes are very common in fcripture. Now in order to 
enter into the ideas of a writer, Mr Claude would have his 
preacher obferve an authoi's fcope as he would obferve a plant 



( 75 ) 



There are texts, the connections of which (I own) 
it will be fometimes difficult to perceive. In fuch 
a cafe endeavour to difcover them by frequent and 

riling out of the earth, expanding itfelf in leaves, diffufing itfeJf 
in branches, adorning itfelf with flowers, enriching itfelf with 
fruits; all being, in a manner, the variegation of the Rem. 

Commentators frequently trifle. Witnefs St Auftin, who 
thought, the ten Egyptian plagues were punifliments adapted 
to the breach of the ten commands. This faint had forgot, 
that the law was given to the Jews, and the plagues inflicted 
on the Egyptians. And what is more aftonifhing, he did not 
remember that the law was not given in die form of ten com- 
mands till three months after the plagues were lent. See Ex. 
six. i. But having conceived the connection of the two tens, 
he was determined to purfue it. 

Nor was Mr Whifton much nigher the matter, when he dex- 
teroufly applied a prophecy of St John's, in the Revelations, to 
prince Eugene's wars. The general politely rewarded the 
expofitor; but proteft ed, he never knew before, jhat he had the 
honour of being known to St John. 

Our beft commentators fometimes trifle. Dr Guyfe does fo 
on the baptifm of John, Mat. iii. Mr Henry is farcical on Judges 
ix. Dr Gill is har-dly in earned, when he fays the word Abba 
read backwards or forwards, is the fame pronunciation, and 
may teach us that God is the father of his people in adverfity as 
well as in profperity. Expof. on Gal. iv. 6. 

Conftdt good fenfe> adds Mr Claude. Very proper advice, for 
good natural fenie will go far in underftanding plain primitive 
chriftianity; and, indeed, will often take a hint, from the moll 
common incident on any fubje£t. 

A friend of mine, difgufted with the common reprefentation of 
the devil carrying our Saviour in his claws, as a bird of prey 
carries a dove through the air, and fetting him on a pinnacle of 
the temple tried Mr Claude's experiment. He fet a fenfible 
little boy to read the fourth of Matthew, and, after he had 
read the fifth verfe, the devil taheth him up into the holy city and 
fetteth him on a pinnacle of the temp/e, he afked the little gentlemen, 
How do you think, the devil took Jefus Chrift, and Jet him on 
a pinnacle of the temple ? Why, Sir, replied the little expofitor, 
as you would take me up to the top of $,t Paul's. 

Sir Ifaac Newton's fublime genius, fet a going by the fall of 
an apple, never flopped till it had explained the laws of nature. 
To that excellent Swifs, Hofpinian, who wrote fo fuccefsfully 
againfl the popifh ceremonies, the neceffity of fuch a work was 
$rft fuggefted by the talk of an ignorant landlord in a country 

K 2 



( TS ) 



\ 



intenfe meditation, or take that, which comments 
tors furnifh; and among many, which they give, 
choofe that, w r hich appears moft natural ; and if you 
can find none likely, the beft way will be to let the 
paflfage alone. The connection is a part, which muft 
be very little infilled on, becaufe the hearers almoft 
always pals it over, and receive but little inftruction 
from it * 

ale-houfe, who thought that religious fraternities were as old 
as the creation, that Adam was a monk, and that Eve was a nun. 
Dr Radcliffe's library was a few phials, a Ikeleton, and an 
herbal: and the ingenious Mr Bunyan's, a bible and the book of 
martyrs. 

I know a minifter who has a high opinion of a little common 
fenfe, and of, I had almoft faid, its infallibility in expounding 
fcripture, who has frequently employed a poor illiterate old 
man to read the fcriptures to him, merely for the fake of finding 
what an ordinary underftanding could make of fcripture. The 
old man who had more religion than manners, generally talked 
to himfeif about the fenfe as he went on. Read to me, John, 
faid the minifter one day, the fourth of Acts. He began, 
*' And as they [pake unto the people — Yfho fpoke to the people? 
O! I fee! Peter and John. The bleffed apoftles were not wil- 
ling to eat their morfel alone, their mafter had faid. Freely ye 
have received, freely give. The priefls and the captain of the tem- 
ple, and thefadducees came upon them — Wicked priefts always keep 
cad company. Soldiers and unbelivers they want to keep them 
in countenance, What has the captain to do with confcience? 
Being grieved that they taught the people — Poor narrow fouls! would 
3 T ou keep the gofpel to yourfelves ? Grieved thai they taught the 
people to turn from their iniquities! Why, would not they make 
tetter fervants and better fubjects? And preached through Jefus 
the refurreclion from the dead. The apoftles had too much love 
for the poor to puzzle them with words and difputes. They 
told the poor, they were to rife from the dead, and to be judged 
for the deeds done in the body \ that not a proud prieft, nor a 
bluftermg' captain; but a companionate Jefus was to be their 
judge, and that all this was proved by the refurrection of Jefus 
himfeif," &c, &c. 

From this good, though illiterate old man's hints, the minifter 
declares, he has often derived confiderable light into the meaning 
of fcripture. 

f Poffibly we may not perceive the coherence of fome of 



• 



When the coherence will furnifh any agreeable 
confiderations for the illuftration of the text, they 
muft be put in the difcuffion, and this will very of- 
ten happen. Sometimes alfo you may draw thence 

St Paul's difcourfes, particularly in his epiftles: but that may be 
owing, either to our want of attending to the drift of the apo- 
ftle, or to our ignorance of fome opinions, cuftoms, or other 
particulars to which he may refer, well known in the time when 
he wrote, on which account fome pafiages in his letters may 
appear dark to us, which fhone with a full light to thofe to 
whom they were direded. But for the mod part the coherence 
and forcible reafoning of this apoftle's difcourfes in his letters 
are plainly confpicuous to attentive readers. With what force 
qf reafoning does he in fome of his epiftles mew the inability of 
the Mofaic law to juftify men? What a chain of folid reafoning 
do we particularly find in his epiftle to the Hebrews, about 
the infufficiency of the ancient facrifices ? With how great 
Itrength of reafoning does the apoftle in his letter to the Ro- 
mans, endeavour to convince the Jews, that God is the God of 
the Gentiles as well as of the Jews? — : — This he does, as a late 
learned commentator (Locke) in his fynopfis prefixed to this 
epiftle mews feveral ways, as, i. By mewing that though the 
the Gentiles were very finful, yet the Jews, who had the law, 
kept it not, could not upon the account of their having the law, 
(which being broken, aggravated their fault, and made them as 
far from righteoufiiefs as the Gentiles themielves,) have a title 
to exclude the Gentiles from being the people of God under the 
gofpel. 2. That Abraham was the father of all that believe, 
as well uncircumcifed as circumcifed; fo that thofe that walk in 
the fteps of the faith of Abraham, though uncircumcifed, are 
the feed to which the promife is made, and (hall receive the 
bleffing. 

3. That it was the purpofe of God from the beginning to take 
the Gentiles to be his feed under the Meffiah, in the place of 
the Jaws, who had been fo till that time, but were then nation- 
ally rejected, becaufe they nationally rejected the Meffias 
WAom he fent to them to be their king and deliverer; but was 
received but by a very fmall number of them, which remnant 
was received into the kingdom of Chrift, and io continued to be 
his people with the converted Gentiles, who all together now 
made the church and people of God. 

4. That the Jewifh nation had no reafon to complain of any 
unrighteoufnefs in God, or hardfhip from him, in their being 
caft off for their unbelief, fince they had been warned of it, and 
they might find it threatened in their ancient prophets. Beftdes, 



an exordium, in fuch a cafe, the exordium and con- 
nection will be confounded together. 

the raifing or depreffing of any nation is the prerogative of God's 
fovereignty .... &c. 

With no lefs coherence does the apoflle argue other points in 
his other epiftles, however unperceived. by the carelefs and in- 
attentive reader« 

Life of St. Paul } chap. 'ill. p. 54. 



CHAP. IV. 

Of Division 

I VISION, in general, ought to be reftrained to 
a fmall number of parts, they fhould never ex-* 
ceed four or five at the moft : the moft admired fer-^ 
rnqns have only two or three parts. * 

* Mr. Claude's direction to be fparing of divifions is wor- 
thy of regard by all, who would preach fo as to be understood, 
or remembered by their hearers ; for a multitude of particulars 
rather puzzle than inftrudt ; inftead of helping, they hurt the 
memory ; and, by overloading, abfolutely render it ufelefs. A 
good fermon, like a good peach, is indeed a ccmpofifion of rich ma- 
terials, which the maker has properly aflbciated to bring it to its 
prefent flavour ; but which the eater may relifh, and, from which 
lie may derive nourifhment, without being obliged to learn chy- 
miftry, or knowing how to decompound, and to reduce the 
whole to its parts. Bad fermons have many divifions ; good 
ones two or three : but the beft none at all. It does not follow, 
however, that texts are never to be divided. Monf. Villaret, in 
his hiftoire de France, fays, that, in the reign of Charles VI, John 
Petit endeavoured to prove aflailination a virtue^ by twelve rea- 
fons, in honour of the twelve ApoRles. 

We mould diftinguilli between the compofition of a fermon in 
private, and the delivery of it in public. The compofing, or the 
putting together of a fermon, implies a previous dilHnction of 
parts j for to compofe a fermon is to unite feveral ideas into one 
body ; fometimes it would be abfurd to mention each component 
part ; and fometimes it would be abfurd to omit the mention of 

iu 




( 79 ) 



There are two forts of divifions, which we may 
yevj properly make; the firft, which is the rnoft 
common, is the divifion of the text into its parts; the 
other is of the difcourfeox fermon itfelf, which is made 
on the text, -f 

The fermonsof many pra&ical preachers are mere ejjliys : and 
thofe of many doBrinal preachers, dry numeration-tables, the fi- 
gures and fractions of which frighten ail but Ikiiful arithmeti- 
cians. There is certainly a middle way, wherein a fermon, like 
a fine piece of hiftory-painting, infenfibly diftinguifhes objects, 
fattens the eye, dilates the heart, and fills us, I had almoft faid 9 
with joy unfpeakable and full of glory. 

But allowing the neceflity of a natural and eafy divifion ; ft 
does by no means follow that thefe are to multiply into whole 
armies. A hundred years ago molt fermons had thirty, forty, 
fifty, or fixty particulars. There is a fermon of Mr, Lye's on r 
Cor. vi. 17. the terms of which fays he, Ifhall endeavour by God's 
ajfifiance clearly to explain. This he does in thirty particulars,y0r 
the fixing of it on a right bafis ; and then adds fifty-fix more to ex- 
plain the fubjecl: ; in all eighty-fix. And what makes it the 
more aftonifhing is his introduction to all thefe, which is this : 
Having thus beaten up and levelled our way to the text, I fhall not 
Hand to fhred the words into any unnecejfary parts, but fhall extraB 
out of them fuch an obfervation as I conceive ftrikes a full eighth to 
the mind of the Spirit of God. Morning exercije. 

If Mr. Lye is too prolific, what fhall we lay to Mr. Drake, 
whofe fermons has (if 1 reckon rightly) above 1 70 parts, be- 
fides queries and folutions ? and yet the good man fays he pajfed 
Jundry ufeful points , pitching only on that which comprehended the mar- 
row ana Jubilance, Morning exercife. 

The fafhion of the age in which they lived, is an excufe for 
thefe good men : but fhould any one imitate their method nowj, 
he would be confidered as if he appeared in the drefs of his an- 
ceftors. A goodly fight indeed ! to drefs like druids in feven- 
teen hundred and feventy-fix ! 

f The following is an example of Mr Claude's two-fold di- 
vifion, from Mr. Flavel : Luke xxiii. 43. And Jefus faid unto hi?n 9 
V erily I fay unto thec y to day fhalt thou be with me in paradise. i„ 
The matter of the promife, be with me in paradile. 2. The 
perfon to whom it was made, faid unto him. 3, The time fet 
for performance, to-day. 4. The confirmation, Verily I fay 
unto thee. Hence Mr. Flavel deduces three propofitions, which 
are the divifions of the difcourfe, as the former are of the text. 
The propofitions are ? u That there is a future eternal ftate^ into 



( so ) 

This laft 5 that is to fay, the divifiofi of a difcourfe 
is proper, when, to give light to a text, it is neceffary 
to mention many things, which the text fuppofes but 
does not formally exprefs ; and w hich muft be col- 
lected elfewhere, in order to enable you to give in the 
end a juft explication of the text. In fuch a cafe 
you may divide your difcourfe into tw 7 o parts, the firft 
containing lome general conf derations, neceffary for 
tmderftanding the text ; and the fecond the particu- 
lar explication of the text itfelf. 

i. This method is proper when a prophecy of the 
old teft anient is handled; for, generally, the under- 
Handing of thefe prophecies depends on many gene-* 
ral confiderations, which, by expofing and refuting 
falfe fenfes, open a way to the true explication ; as 
appears by what has been faid on Gen. iii. 15. I will 
put e?imity between thee, and the woinan ; and be* 
tween thy feed, and her feed; it Jhallbruife thy head, 
and thou fhalt bruife his heel; and on the covenant 
made with Abraham, &c. &c. -f 

which fouls pafs at death* 2. All believers at their death are 
immediately received into a Mate of glory, and eternal happinefs. 
3. God may, though he feldom doth, prepare men for this glory, 
immediately before their di Ablution by death. The difcuiTion 
confifts of many proofs of thefe proportions. FlaveV s fountain 
of life, fer. xxxii. s. I. 

f This is fometimes Mr. Saurin's method, and fometimefr 
when the prophecy is clear in its application, he 1. Fixes the e- 
poch of its accompliftiment. 2. Enquires the caufes (if it pre- 
dict heavy afflictions, as Amos viii. it, 12. a famine of God's 
word.) 3. Defcribes its horrors. Hence he draws proper con- 
clufions. 

Thefe general conGderations appear better flail in an exordium. 
See bifhop Newton on the prophecies ; the eighteenth diflerta- 
tion of the fecond volume will explain my meaning. 

A chriftian minifter in ftudying prophecies will confider the' 
matter of the prophecy, the place where, and the time when it has 
been, or will be accomplilhed, Hence Le Clerc advifes fcp (ludy 



( 81 ) 



2. This method is alfo proper on a text taken 
from a difpute^ the underftanding of which rauft de- 
pend on the ftate of the queftion, the hypothefes of 
adverfaries, and the principles of the infpired writers. 
All thefe lights are previoufly neceffary, and they 
can only be given by general confiderations : For ex- 
ample, Rom. iii. 28. We conclude that a man is jus- 
tified by faith without the deeds of the law. Some 
general confiderations muft precede, which clear up 
the Jl ate of the quejlion between S. Paul and the Jews, 
touching j uftification ; which mark the hypothefes of 
the Jews upon that fubjedt, and which difcover the 
true principle which S. Paul would eftablifh ; fo that 
in the end the text may be clearly understood. 

3, This method alfo is proper in a conclufion 
drawn from a long preceding difcourfe ; as for ex- 
ample, Rom. v. 1 . Therefore being jufeified by faith , 
we have peace with God, through our Lord Jefus 
Chrifl. Some think that, to manage this text well, 
we ought not to fpeak of jujlif cation by faith ; but 
only of xhdXpeace^ which we have with God, through 
our Lord Jefus Chrift. I grants we ought not to 
make j unification the chief part of the fermon : but 
the text is a conclufion drawn by the apoftle from 
the preceding difcourfe, and we fhall deceive ourfelves, 
if we imagine this difpute between S. Paul and the 
Jews fo well known to the people, that it is needlefs 

L 

geography, chronology, cuftcms, and manners of the people and 
times in which they were written. Unlefs we know thefe we 
fhall not underftand the thoufandth part of what we read. 

Thefe observations are applicable to the ftudy of the facred 
writers in general, but I mould think to prophecies in particular, 
that we may know what is foretold, when its accomplishment 
takes place, and where. — Vide Cler'ici ars crit. torn. \. p. I. c I. 
and alfo Sir lfaac Newton } on Dan. chaps. \ and ii. on the Apoca- 
hPfei chaps. 1. and ii. 



( M ) 



to fpeak of it ; they are not, in general, lb well ac- 
quainted with fcripture. The dtfcouvfe then muff be 
divided into two parts, the firft confifting of fome 
general 'confederations on the doctrine of juftification, 
which S. Paul eftablifhes in the preceding chapters ; 
and the fecond of his conclufion, that, being thus juf- 
tified, we have peace with God, &c. 

The fame may be faid of the firft verfe of the viiith 
of Romans, There is therefore now no condemnation 
to them, that are in Chrifl Jefus, who walk not after 
the fiejb but after the Spirit; for it is a confequence 
drawn from what he had been eftabliftiing before. 

4. The fame method is proper for texts, which 
are quoted in the new teftament from the old. You 
muft prove by general confederations, that the text 
is properly produced, and then you may come clearly 
to its explication. Of this kind are Heb. i. 5, 6. / 
will be to him a father and he fall be to ??ie a fon : ii. 
6. One in a certain place tefeified, faying, What is 
man that thou art mindful of him f liu 7. Wherefore 
as the holy Ghofl faith, To day if ye will hear his 
voice harden not your hearts. There are many paf- 
iages of this kind in the new teftament, * 

5. In this clafs muft be placed divifions into dif- 
ferent regards, or different views. Thefe, to fpeak 
properly, are not divifions of a text into its parts, but 
rather different applications, which are made of the 
lame texts to divers fubjecls. Typical texts mould 

* Thus Mr. Saurin on Heb. x. 5, 6, 7. Sacrifice andhurnt-of- 
fering thou wciddsfi not— a body had thou prepared me. w We con- 
ilder thefe words in relation to the Melfiah ; three things are, 
therefore, necerTary. Our text is a quotation — it muft be juftjfied. 
It is a difficult paffage— it mult be explained. It is one of the 
moft efTential truths of religion—it muft be confirmed by folid 
proofs. Thefe are the three parU." &£, Sgur, ser. tsm. sii. sur. 
tafuklhU de Jesus Cbrik 



( 83 ) 

be divided thus ; and a great number of pciffages in 
the Pfalms, which relate not only to David, but alfo 
to Jefus Chrift ; fuch mould be confidered firft lite- 
rally, as they relate to David ; and then in their 
myftical fenfe, as they refer to the Lord Jefus. 

There are alfo typical paflages, which befrde their 
literal fenfes have alfo figurative meanings, relating 
not only to Jefus Chrift : but alfo to the church in 
general, and to every believer in particular ; or which 
have different degrees of their myftical accomplifh- 
ment. For. example, Hag. ii. 9. The glory of this 
latter houfe Jhall he greater than of the former. This 
fhould be difcuffed in five different views: 1. In re- 
gard to the temple of the Jews rebuilt by Zerubbabel. 
2. In regard to the fecond covenant, which fucceeds 
the firft. 3. In regard to Jefus Chrift raifed from the 
dead. 4. As it relates to every believer after the re* 
furredtion, And laftly, W ith a view to the church 
triumphant, which fucceeds the church militant. * 

L 2 

f I confefs I do not perceive what the text in Haggai has to 
do with rnoft of the fubjecls, which Mr. Claude mentions. " The 
temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel was nothing in companion of the 
firft ; it wanted, 1. The ark of the covenant, and mercy-feat. 2. 
The fhechinah, or divine prefence. 3. The urim and thummim. 
4. The holy fire upon the altar. And 5. The fpirit of prophecy. 
But all thefe defects were abundantly fupplied when the dejire of 
alt nations, the Lord whom they fought, came to this his temple, 
and Chrift our Saviour, who was the trueft fhechinah of the di- 
vine majefty, honoured it with his prefence } in this refpecl: the 
glory of the latter houfe did far exceed the glory of the former." 
Thefe are the words of Dean Prideaux, and they feem to include 
the prophet's meaning. Prid. con. p. I. book hi. 

I queftion if of any part of fcripture there have been more f an- 
ciful interpretations than of the typical parts. The ceconomy 
was grand of itfelf, and glorious, as it related to the Meffiah, of 
whom it was a fhadow : but how have men's whirnfies debafed 
it ! Thus " the snuffers fignified found arguments, faithful admo- 
nitions, and dreadful excommunications. The grate of nettivork, 
has (hewn the rich ufefulnefs of Jefus Chrift for juftification ; 



( 84 ) 



So in this paflage / will not any more eat of this 
paffover until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God y 
Luke xxii. 16, I would divide by all the different 
relations which the pafcal lamb had, as i. To the 
paffage of the Ifraelites through the Red-Sea, and the 
paflage of the deftroying angel over their houfes, for 
it was a memorial of that, 2. To the paflage of Je- 
flis Chrift from his ftate of humiliation to his ftate 
of exaltation, for it was z. figure of that. 3, To our 
paflage from the flavery of fin to righteoufnefs. 4. 
To our paflage from this life to a life of happinefs 
when we die. 5. To the pairing of the body from 
a ftate of death to a blefled immortality at the refur- 
redtion : For the paffover fgnified all thefe, * 

the fad condition of people once enlightened, but now fallen a- 
way ; Chrift's prefenting us pure to the father, having fifted a- 
way our weakneffes. The tree thrown into the waters to fweeten 
them, was Jefus Chrift ; and we are told, that, in countries where 
the waters are venomous, when the beafts come to drink, they all 
wait for the unicorn, that fo he might firft put in his horn, the 
virtue of which expels the venomous corruption, which was in 
the waters before, and then they all drink of the fame. O fo 
fiiould the Lord's people wait in the waters of affliction upon 
Chrift their fpiritual unicorn, who puttevh down his long horn 
of grace to fweeten," &c. W or den s types unvailed chap's, ix. xxiii. 

XXV. 

This way of fpiritualizing things evaporates them. They 
talk of the talmudifts : but are not thefe (as one fays,) talmu- 
dic camels, which no one in his wits can fwallow ? Many of the 
fathers were remarkable for this habit of fpiritualizing *, and on 
this account, I fuppofe, Mr Addifon faid, whoever had read 
Mr Bunyan's Solomon's temple fpiritualized, had read as great a fa- 
ther as any of them. In fhort, types fhouid be handled cautious- 
ly, and foberly, and always under the immediate direction of the 
iiew-teftament writers. — A man is always fafe when he follows 
thefe guides. 

* The three firft views of the paffover feem fcriptural, the 
laft feem to be taken from the traditions of the elders. One 
of the jewifh talmuds fays, " The Hallel, or laft part of the 
paffover pfalms> recordeth five things : the coming out of Egypt* 



C 85 ) 



So Dan. Ix. y. 0 Lord, righteoufnefs behngeth un- 
to thee, but unto us confujion of face as at this day : 
(which is a very proper text for a faft-day.) muft be 
divided, not into parts : but confidered in different 
views, i. In regard to all men in general 2. In 
regard to the Jew'ifh church in Daniel's time. And 
3. In regard to ourfelves at this prefent day. 

the dividing of the fea, the giving of the law, the refurrection 
of the dead, and the lot of the Meflias. Granting that the pfalms, 
which they fang at the pafcal flipper, did record thefe five arti- 
cles, yet, as the appointment of this ritual was by the fcribes, 
and not by divine authority, it by no means proves, that the 
paflbver was originally intended to fignify all thefe things. We 
fhould expound fcripture by fcripture, and not wander after the 
Rabbies, who of all men have trilled moft, fince they rejected 
the Melliah. The drinking of four cups of wine at this flipper 
was alfo enjoined fo ftricldy, that the pooreft man in IiraeJ, 
though he fold or pawned his coat, muft procure four cups. 
*' Whence is the ground of four cups ? Rabbi Jochanan, in the 
name of Rabbi Benaiah, faith, in parallel to the four words that 
are ufed about Ifrael's redemption, * # * *, bringing out — deliver- 
ing—redeeming — and taking. Rabbi Jofhua, the fon of Levi, faith s 
in parallel to the four cups of Pharaoh in thefe texts ; Pharaoh's 
cup was in my hand. — i fqueezed them into Pharaoh's cup. — 
I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. — And thou fhalt give Pha- 
raoh the cup. Rabbi Levi fays, in parallel to the four monarchies^ 
Dan. viii. And our Rabbins fay, in parallel to the four cups of 
vengeance, of which the wicked fnall drink; for which there 
are thek four texts : Take the wine cup of this fury. — Babylon 
is a golden cup.— -In the Lord's hand there is a cup. — The portion 
of their cup. And, anfwerably. The Lord fhall make Ifrael 
drink of four cups of confolation, in thefe four texts: The 
Lord is the portion of my cup — My cup runneth over," &c. 
&c. T)r Lightfoot's temple fervice, chap, xii, xiii. 

I wifti the Rabbies had been the only men who had puzzled 
plain things, who had invented and ordained doctrines and du- 
ties of their own, and then had racked fcripture to prove what 
it never aiferted. 

Mr Claude's two lad articles are capable of full proof, from 
plain, literal, fterling fcripture : but when, under a miitaken 
notion of iiluftrating fuch truths, we pretend to draw them 
from figurative and typical texts, we weaken their authority, and 
render our own impartiality fufpe&ed. 



( * ) 



So again, Heb. iii. 7, 8. To day if ye will hear 
his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of 
temptation in the wilder nefs, (which is taken from 
the xcv Pfalm, and which alfo is very proper for a 
day of cenfure or failing,) cannot be better divided 
than by referring it, 1. To David's time, 2, To S, 
Paul's. And laftly, To our own. * 

As to the divifion of the text itfelf, fometimes the 
order of the words is fo clear and natural, that no di- 
vifion is neceflary, you need only follow fimply the 
order of the words. As for example, Eph. i. 3. 
Bleffed be the God and father of our Lord Jefus 
Chrif, who hath blejfed us with all fpiritual blef 
lings in heavenly places in Chrifl. It is not necelfa- 
ry to divide this text, becaufe the words divide them- 
felves, and to explain them we need only follow them. 
Here is a grateful acknowledgment, bleffed be God. 
The title, under which the apoftle blefles God, the 
father of our Lord Jefus Chrifl* The reafon, for 
which he bleffes him, becaufe he hath bleffed us. The 
plenitude of this bleffing, with all bleffings. The 
nature or kind, iignified by the term, fpiritual. The 
place, where he hath bleffed us, in heavenly places. 
In whom he hath bleffed us. in Chrift* Remark, as 
you go on, that there is a manifeft allufion to the firft 
bleffing, wherewith God bleffed his creatures, when 
he firft created them, Gen. i. For as in the firft 

* Different regards. Thus Mr Saurin (from Luke xxiii. 
29. Behold the days come, &c. on the miferies of the Jews.) con- 
fiders their calamities, which every body knows, I. As a proof 
of the divinity of the fcriptures, which fo often foretold their 
difperfion. 2. As a ratification of the execration denounced on 
themfelves, His blood be on us, &c. 3. As a seal which God has 
put to Chrift's minion. 4. As an infinitive leffon to chriftians : 
" If thou continueft in his goodnefs, otherwife thou alfo malt 
be cut off?' Saur. fer. vol. i. 



( 87 ) 

creation he made all things for his own glory, Prov« 
xvi. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himfelf: 
So in this new creation, the end, and perpetual ex- 
ercife of the believer ought to be to blefs and glorify 
God. All things in nature blefs God as their crea- 
tor : but we blefs him as the father of our Lord Jefus 
Chrift. God bleffed the creation immediately be- 
caufe it was his own work : Here in like manner, he 
bleffes us, becaufe we are his own new creation ; we 
are, fays the apoftle, his workman/hip, created in 
Chrift Jefus unto good works, chap. ii. 1 o. There 
the Lord divided his bleffing, giving to every crea- 
ture a different bleffing ; he faid to the earth, Bring 
forth grafs, the herb yielding feed, and the fruit- 
tree yielding fruit ; to the ffhes of the fea, and to the 
fowls of the air, Be fruitful and multiply ; and to 
man he faid, Be fruitful and multiply and replenifh 
the earth, and fubdue it, and have dominion : Here 7 
believers have every one his whole bleffing, for each 
poffefleth it entirely. The creatures then received 
but an imperfect bleffing : but we have received one 
as full and entire as God could communicate to crea- 
tures. Their bleffing was in the order of nature a 
temporal bleffing : ours in the order of grace a fpiri- 
tual bleffing. There upon earth ; here in heavenly 
places. There in Adam ; here in Chrift. 

It may alfo be remarked, that the apoftle alludes 
to the bleffing of Abraham, to whom God faid, In 
thy feed floall all the families of the earth be bleffed; 
and a comparifon may very well be made of the 
temporal bleffings of the Ifraeiites, with thofe fpi- 
ritual benefits, which we receive by Jefus Chrift % 

* This plain eafy way of preaching without divifipns is won- 
4erfuly adapted to the capacities, and inclinations too, of mulr 



( '** ) 



Mofl texts, however, ought to be formally di- 
vided, for which purpofe, you muft principally 
have regard to the order of nature, and put that 
divifion, which naturally precedes, in the firft place, 
and the reft muft follow, each in its proper or- 
der. This may eanly be done by reducing the text 
to a categorical propofition, beginning, with the 
fubjed, palling to the attribute, and then to the other 
terms ; your judgment will direct you how to place 
them** 

titudes of hearers, and fuch a method purged of artificial logic, 
will one day or other, it is to be hoped, univerfally prevail. The 
knowledge of a fmall number of fads is fdfficient to let a man 
into the right way of falvation. Thefe fa£ls manifeft God and 
his divine will to him; he finds therein the objects of his be- 
lief, the rules of his conduct, and the motives to every virtue. ~ 
— Infinite wifdom itfelf ufed the fame method, when it came 
to inftrud the man it had created. Inftead of always employ- 
ing plain maxims, or cold generalities; it delights in making 
him difcover the wholefome truths in a recital, and in the ap- 
pearance of a matter of fact. Sometimes it is a sower who 
throws his corn into grounds differently prepared ; fometimes 
the father of a family, who fends into his vineyard the labourers 
he finds upon the place at feveral hours of the day, fometimes 
a child reclaimed from the errors of his long mifcondu6t ; or any 
other the like event, intelligible to men of all capacities, and fit 
to invite them to unriddle the truth wrapt in it. The divine 
wifdom knew her work, and has taught man according to his 
natural difpofitions." Nat. displayed, vol. v. dial. 13. 

# Allowing that texts are to be divided after reducing them 
to categorical, i. e. to fingle propofitions, either fimple, the fub- 
je£ts and predicates of which confift of fingle terms; or complex, 
the fubje&s and predicates of which are made up of complex 
terms: allowing that the sub j eel is to be confidered firft, then 
the attributes,. which in logic are the fame with predicates, or 
what may be affirmed or denied of any fubjecf. ; allowing all 
this, yet it muft not be forgot that this operation, and thefe 
terms belong to the laboratory, and fhould never appear in pre- 
fcriptions to the people; efpecially as Mr Claude's propofed 
end may be better anfwered without them. He aims to make di- 
vifion s natural; here's an example. 

The Archbifhop of Cambray (preaehing to a religious order, 



( 89 ) 



If, for example, I were to preach from Heb. x. 
lo. " By the which will we are fan&ified, through 
the offering of the body of Jefus Chrift, once for all; 5 * 
I fhould not think it proper to fpeak fir ft of the 
will of God, then of our lan&ification, and iaftly 
of the caufe of our fanftification, which is, the ob- 
lation of the body of Jefus Chrift ; it would be 
much better to reduce the text to a categorical pro- 
pofition ; thus, " The offering of the body of Jefus 

fame of whom had been employed in millions to the eaft, from 
Ifa. lx. *i. Arise, /bine, thy light is come, &c.) introduces his 
divifion thus; But I feel my heart moved within me; it is divi- 
ded between joy and grief; the miniftry of thefe apoitolic men 
and the call of thefe eaftern people, are the triumphs of re- 
ligion ; but perhaps they may alfo be the effects of a fecret 
reprobation, which hang over us. Perhaps thefe people may 
rife upon our ruins, as the Gentiles rofe upon the ruins of 
the Jews. Let us then rejoice in the Lord: but let us rejoice 
with trembling, Thefe two exhortations divide my difcourfe. 
Fenel. oeuvres philojoph. torn. ii. 

Bilhop Maffillon, preaching to his clergy, on Luke ii. 34. 
This child is fet for the fall and rifing again of many in Israel, after 
an agreeable exordium, fays, Let us pafs all other reafons of 
this myftery, and confine ourfelves to one fingle truth, which 
regards ourfelves. Me thinks Jefus Chrift entering on his prieft- 
hood to-day in the temple, is an example of every prieft, when 
he comes to receive the holy unction, and for the firft time ap- 
pears in the church, veiled with this terrible dignity; for on this 
folemn occafion it may be faid of him, Behold ! this man is fet 
for the fall, or rifing again of many in Israel-, he comes to be an 
inftrument of the perdition, or the salvation of many. On this 
terrible alternative runs the deftiny of a minifter, and it is li- 
terally true of every one of you, that you already are, or are a- 
bout to be eftablifhed to build up, or to pull down; to rid the 
church of fcandals, or to caufe new ones; to fave, or to deftroyj 
in one word, to be a favour of life unto life, or of death unto 
death, among the people; thefe are the two parts, &c. Maffillon, 
confer, torn. i. 

I will not fay that thefe gentlemen did not reduce their texts 
to categorical proportions in private in the ft'udy: but I may 
venture to fay, if they did, they brought them to a right iilue 
In the pulpit. And this I think is Mr Claude's meaning. 

M 



( 90 ) 

Chrift, once made fancTifies us by the will of God;'* 
fork is more natural to confider, i. The nearer and 
more immediate caufe of our acceptance, which is 
the oblation of the body of Jefus Chrift. 2. Its 
efecl, our fanclif cation. 3. Its fir ft and more re- 
mote caufe, which makes it produce this efFecl:, the 
will of God. 

It remains to be obferved, that there are two na- 
tural orders, one natural in regard to fubjecT:s them- 
felves, the other natural in regard to us. The firft 
confiders every thing in its natural fituation, as- things 
are in tbemfelves y without any regard to our know- 
ledege of them; the other which I call natural in 
regard to us^ obferves the fituation, which things 
have as they appear in our minds; or enter into our 
thoughts* For example, in the laft mentioned text, 
the natural order of things would require the propo- 
fition thus ; By the will of God the offering of the 
body of Chrift fan&ifies us; for, 1. The will of God 
is the decree of his good pleafure to fend his Son 
into the world. 2. The oblation of Jefus Chrift 
is the firft effecl: of this will. And, 3. Our fanc- 
tification is the laft effect: of his oblation by the will 
of God, On the contrary, the natural order in re- 
gard to us is, 1 . The offering. 2. The fan&ifica- 
tion, which it produces. And, laftly, The will of 
God, which gives it this efficacy. 

When in any text the natural order of things 
differs from that, which regards our knowledge of 
them, we may take that way, which we like beft ; 
however I believe it would be beft to follow that of 
our knowledge, becaufe it is eafieft and cleareft for 
the common people. 

There are texts, which contain the end and the 
means; the caufe and the effect; the principle and 



{ 91 ) 



the confequence deduced from the principle ; the 
action and the principle of the action ; the occafion 
and the motive of the occafion : in thefe cafes it is ar- 
bitrary either to begin with the means, and after- 
wards treat of the end, with the effecl: ; and proceed 
to the caufe, and fo on ; or to follow the contrary or- 
der. For inftance, i Tim. ii. 10. Therefore I endure 
all things for the elects fake, that they may alfo ob- 
tain the falvation which is in Chrlfl with eternal 
glory. It is plain, that the texts has three parts ; the 
fufferings of the apoftle ; the end he propofes ; and 
the principle ', from which he propofes this end. The 
order is then arbitrary : you may either fpeak, firft 
of S. Paul's love to the elect ; fecondly of the falva- 
tion^ which he defired they might obtain in Jefus 
Chrift ; and thirdly, of the fufferings, which he en- 
dured in order to their obtaining it. Or, firft of his 
fufferings ; fecondly of the end, which he propofed in 
them, the falvation of the elecl: with eternal glory ; 
and thirdly, of his love for the elecl:, which is the 
principle. 

But though, in general, you may follow which of 
the two orders you pleafe, yet there are fome texts, 
that determine the divifion; as Phi!, ii. 13. It is 
God who worketh effeclually in you, both to will, 
and to do, of his own good pleafure. * There are, it 

M 2 

* Dieu produit en nous avec efficace ; God worketh effectually 
In us. Our tranljation, God worketh in you, is fiat, and does not 
exprefs the full meaning of the apoftle's O Theos o energqn, 
it is God who worketh powerfully, or effeclually in you, fo as to 
remove every obflacle. The Septuagint ufes the word energese, 
to exprefs the creating power of God, Ifai. xli. 4. By this 
Word is meant an adion joined with efficacy, fay the Greek 
lexicons. 

* Dr Owen fays, " The whole work of the Spirit is rationally 
to be accounted for 5 for, adds he, the Spirit doth not in our re?- 



( 92 ) 



is plain, three things to be difcuffed, the aEtiort of 
God's grace upon men, God worketh effectually in 
you ; the effecl of this grace, to will aitd to do ; and 
the fpring or fource of the aclion, according to his 
good pleafure. I think the divifion would not be 
proper if we were to treat, i. Of God's good pleafure. 
2, Of his grace. And, 3. Of the will and works of 
men. I mould rather begin with volition and action, 
which are the effects of grace; then I mould fpeak of 
the grace itfeif, which produces willing and doing 
in us effectually ; and laftly, of the fource of this 
grace, which is the good pleafure of God. In fhort, 
it is always neceflary to confult good fenfe, and never 
to be fo conducted by general rules as not to attend 
to particular circumitances. * 

Above all things in di virions, take care of putting 
any thing in the firft part, which fuppofes the under- 
ftanding of the fecond, or which obliges you to 

generation pofiefs the mind with any enthufiaftical imprefiions : 
nor aeteth abfolutely upon us as he did in extraordinary pro- 
phetical infpirations of old, where the minds and organs of the 
bodies of men were merely pafflve inftruments, moved by him 
above their own natural capacity and activity, not only as to the 
principle of working, but as to the manner of operation : but 
he works on the minds of men in and by their own natural act- 
ings y through an immediate influence andimpreflion of his power. 
Create in we a clean he an f, O God, He worketh to will and to do." 
Owen on the Spirit, b. iii. c, 5. f. 32. b. iii. c. 1. f. 25, 

* What a modern writer fays of expreflion and arrangement of 
words, mayjufllybe applied to arrangement of divifions : " Per- 
fpicuity ought not to be •facrificed to any other beauty whatever. 
If it fhould be doubted whether perfpicuity be a pohtive beauty, 
it cannot be doubted* that the want of it is the greateft defect. 
Nothing, therefore, in language ought to be more ftudied than 
to prevent all obfcurity in the expreflion ; for to have no mean- 
ing is but one degree worfe than to have a meaning that is not ; 
underftcod.' EL of cr it. chap, xviii. s. 2. p. 20.54. 3d edit 
Edinburgh. 



( 93 ) 

treat of the fecond to make the firft underftood ; for 
by thefe means you will throw yourfelf into a great 
confufion, and be obliged to make many tedious 
repetitions. You muft endeavour to difengage the one 
from the other as well as you can, and when your 
parts are too clofeiy connected with each other 5 place 
the moft detached firft, and endeavour to make that 
ferve for a foundation to the explication of the fecond, 
and the fecond to the third; fo that at the end of 
your explication the hearer may with a glance per- 
ceive, as it were, a perfect body, or a finilhed build- 
ing ; for one of the greater!: excellencies of a fermon 
is the harmony of its component parts, that the firft 
leads to the fecond, the fecond ferves to introduce the 
third ; that they which go before, excite a defire for 
thofe, which are to follow: and, in a word, that the 
laft has a fpecial relation to all the others, in order to 
form in the hearers minds, a complete idea of the 
whole. 

This cannot be done with all forts of texts, but 
%vith thofe only, which are proper to form fuch a de- 
fign upon. Remember too, it is not enough to form 
fuch* a plan, it muft alfo be happily executed. 

You will often find it neceffary in texts, which you 
reduce to categorical propofitions, to treat of the fub- 
jecl, as well as of the attribute; then you muft make 
of the fubjecl: one part. This will always happen, 
when the fubjed: of the propofition is exprefled in 
terms, that want explaining, or which furnilh many 
confiderations : For example ; He, that abideth in me, 
and I in him, the fame bringeth forth much fruit. 
This is a categorical propofition, and you muft needs 
treat of the fubjecT:, he who abides in Jejus Cbri/I, 
and in whom Jesus Christ abides. So again, He, 
that believeth in me, hath everlasting life, He, 



( 9* ) 

that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my bloody abideth 
in me, and I in him. There is therefore now no 
condemnation to them, that are in Christ Jesus, zvho 
walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. If any 
man be in Christ he is a new creature. The two laft 
ought to be reduced to categorical proportions, the 
fubje&s of which are, they who are in Chrijt. In 
thefe, and in all others of the fame kind, the fubjecl: 
muft make one part, and muft alfo be confidered 
firft, for it is more natural, as well as moft agreeable 
to the rules of logic, to begin with the fubjecl: of a 
propofition. Sometimes it is neceffary not only to 
make one part of the fubjecl:, and another of the at- 
tribute ; but alfo to make a third of the connexion of 
the fubjecl: with the attribute. In this cafe, you may 
fay, after you have obferved in the firft place the fub- 
jecl:, and in the fecond the attribute, that you will 
confider in the third the entire sense of the whole 
proposition; this muft be done in thefe texts; If any 
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. He, that 
believeth in me, hath eternal lifle^ &c. 

Sometimes there are, in texts reduced to categori- 
cal proportions, terms, which in the fchools are cal- 
led fyncategorematica, and they relate fometimes to 
the fubjecl: and fometimes to the attribute *. 

When in a text there are feveral terms, which need 
a particular explanation, and which cannot be ex- 
plained without confufion, or without dividing the 
text into too many parts, then I would not divide the 
text at all : but I would divide the difcourfe into two 
or three parts ; and I would propofe, firft to ex- 

* fyncategorematica. Of this kind are thofe words, which 
logicians call univerfal, and particular figns ; an example of 
which prefently follows ; words, which of themfelves fignify 
nothing, but in conjunction with others in a propofition are 
very fi gnificative. 



( w i 

plain the terms, and then the fubjed itfelf. This 
would beneceffaryon A£ts ii. 27. Thou wilt not 
leave my soul in the grave, neither zvilt thou suffer 
thy holy one to see corruption *• To difcufs this 
text properly, I think, the difcourfe fhould be divided 
into three parts, the firft confifting of fome general 
confederations ^ to prove that the text relates to Jefbs 
Ghrift, and that Peter alledged it properly : The fe- 
cond, of fome particular confederations on the terms ^ 
foal) which lignifies Ufe\ grave, which aifo fignifies 

* The French text is, Tu ne laifferas point mon ame au fe- 
pulchre— thou wilt not leave my foul in the grave ; in our tranfc 
lation it is rendered hell. It feems we have no word in either 
language now to exprefs the ancient meaning of the original 
terms ; for the Hebrew fheol, the Greek hades, the Latin infra, 
with its derivatives, inferi, infernum> and the French enfer,feem to 
have been originally abftracl: terms, put for the Jtate of the dead 9 
without any regard to the ideas of happinefs or mifery : but as 
people, who fpoke of this ftate, either fpoke in reference to the 
body, or the foul, or the whole man indefinitely, it is eafy to fee 
how the words became equivocal, and their meaning determina- 
ble only by the fcope of a place. If I fay the body is gone to 
hades or Jheol, I mean to the grave. If I fay, the fotil of Judas is 
gone to hades, I mean to a place of torment, to hell. If I fay, 
the foul of a good man is gone to hades, I mean to a ftate of 
happinefs, or to heaven. If I fay in general that all our ancef- 
tors are gone to hades, I mean, they are all dead, departed to the 
invifible world. Our Englifh word hell feems to have had this 
meaning anciently *, for it is faid to be " extracted from the Ger- 
man hit, to hide, hiluh, hidden ; therefore the ancient Irifh ufed to 
fay,to hell the head, that is to cover the head; and he that covered 
a houfe with tiles or flate was called a hellier." So that our hell 
anfwered the Greek hades, which denoted the invifible place. 
Archp. Ufher, de limb. patr. 

That Jheol, hades, and inferi, are ufed of the grave, is plain, 
from 1 Sam. ii 6. and from many other places. 

The meaning, therefore, of the above text, which is taken 
from PfaL xvi. feems to be, that the foul and body of the Mef- 
fiah fhould not remain long in a feparate ftate, as the fouls and 
bodies of other dead perfons do, but fhould be reunited before 
the body faw corruption. Vide Vojfti theses thecl. de flat, anim* 
sep. 



{ 96 ) 



hell ; on which the church of Rome grounds her 
opinion of (Thrift's defcent into, what her divines call, 
limbus patntm f holy, which in this place fignifies 
immortal, unalterable, indeflruclible; corruption, 
which means not the moral corruption of fin, but 
the natural corruption of the body. Finally, we muft 
examine the fubjecl itfelf, the refurreclion of Jefus 
.Chrift. 

There are many texts, in difcuffing which it is 
not necefiary to treat of either fubjecl: or attribute ; 
but all the difcufiion depends on the terms fyncate- 
gorematka. For example, John ML 16. God fo 
loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten son, 
that zvhosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life. The categorical proportion 
is, God loved the world; yet it is neither neceffary 
to infift much on the term God, nor to fpeak in a 
common-place way of the love of God: but divide 
the text into two parts; firft, the gift which God in 
his love hath made of his fon ; fecondly, the end 
for which he gave him, that whosoever believeth m 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 
In the firft, you muft fhew how Jefus Chrift is the 
gift of God; i. In that he did not come by princi- 
ples of nature. 2. Inafmuch as there was nothing 

* If the pfalmift meant to fay only the ivided, (hall die, and all 
the nations that forget God {hall die, he meant to utter a trite 
faying of 110 confequence, for the righteous alfo fhall die, and all 
the nations that remember God fhall die. But if he intended to 
fpeak of the future punifhment of the wicked, the paffage is evi- 
dently worthy of an infpired writer, as the revelation of future 
puniihments might excite great fears, and fo produce great 
moral good. The fame may be faid of many other paflages in 
the old teft anient, 

* c The rich man being in HELL lift up his eyes, Luke xvi. 
23. Fear him who hath power to call into HELL, Luke 
xii. 5. 



( 97 ) 



among men to merit it. 3. In that there was no- 
thing among men to excite even the leafi: regard of 
any kind. 4. There was not the leaft proportion, 
between us and fo great a gift. But, 5. There 
was, on the contrary, an infinite difproportion, and 
not only a difproportion, but an oppofition and a con- 
trariety. Then pais to the caafe of this gift^ 
which is love ; and after having pbferved, that it 
was a love of complacence, for which, on the crea- 
ture's part, no reafon can be rendered, particularly 
prefs the term fo^ and difplay the greatnefs of this 
love by many confiderations. Then go on to the 
fecond point, and examine, I, The fruit of Chrift's 
million, the falvation of man, exprefled negatively, 
that he Jhould not perijh^ and pofitively, that he 
Jhould have eternal life. Speak of thefe one after 
another. After this obferve, 2. For whom the be- 
nefit of Chrift's miffion is ordained, believers. And 
laftly, enlarge on the word whofoever^ which figni- 
fies two things, 1. That no believer is excluded from 
the benefits of Jefus Chrift. And 2. That no man, 
as fuch^ is excluded from faith, for all are indifferent-* 
ly called *. 

In texts of reafoning, the propofitions, which 
compofe the fyllogifm, muft be examined one after 
another, and each apart. * 

* Thefe outlines, purged of figures and technical terms, 
filled up with folid and fatisfa&ory truths, and coloured with 
agreeable Hgures of fpeech, would form no defpicable picture % 
for it is ever to be remembered that i, 2, 3, negative, pofitive, 
categoric, &c. are only to aid private compofition, and are no 
more to be mentioned in public preaching than the naked can- 
vafs is to be feen in a finifhed painting. 

(f) Logicians define fyllogifm thus : as the firft work of the 
mind is perception , whereby our ideas are framed, and the fe- 
cond is judgment^ which joins, or disjoins our ideas, and forms 

N 



( 9S ) 



Sometimes it will be even neceflary to confider 
the force of the reafoning, and to make one part of 
that alfo. * 

a proportion) fo the third operation of the mind is reasoning, which 
joins feveral propofitions together and makes a syllogism : that 
is, an argument whereby ive are wvnt to infer fomething> that is lefs 
known y from truths, which are more evident. The matter, of 
v/hich a fyllogifm is made up, is three propofitions ; and thefe 
three proportions are made up of three ideas > or terms varioufly 
joined. The three terms are called the remote matter of a fyllo- 
gifm, and the three propofitions the u proxime, or immediate 
matter of it. Dr. Watts's logic, part 3. chap. 1. 

Mr Locke aiks whether fyilogism, as is generally thought, be 
the proper inftrument of reafon, and the ufefulleft way of exer- 
cifing this faculty ? and gives feveral reafons why he doubts 
it. 

The fyllogifm is ufed for the fake of inference, but (fays he) 
an ingenuous fearcher after truth, who has no other aim but to 
find it, has no need of any fuch form to force the allowing of 
the inference : the truth and reafonablenefs of it, is better feen 
in " ranging of the ideas in a fimple and plain order. And hence 
it is that men in their own enquiries after truth, never ufe fyl- 
logifms to convince themfelves, (or in teaching others to inftruct 
willing learners) becaufe before they can put them into a fyl- 
logifm, they muft fee the connection that is between the inter- 
mediate idea, and the two other ideas it is fet between and ap- 
plied to, to {hew their agreement : and when they fee that, they 
fee whether the inference be good or no, and fo fyllogifm comes 
too late to fettle it. 

Mr Locke adds, notwithstanding, that all right reafoning may 
be reduced to the common forms of fyllogifm, but that they are 
not the only, nor the beft way of reafoning, for the leading of 
thofe into truth who are willing to find it. Ejfay* book iv. 
chap 1 7. 

* Mr Locke, fpeaking of reafon, as a faculty in man, fays we 
may confider in reafon thefe four degrees; the firft and higheft 
is the difcovering and finding out of proofs; the fecond, the 
regular and methodical difpofition of them, and laying them in 
a clear and fit order to make their connexion and force be plain- 
ly and eafily perceived , the third is the perceiving their con- 
nexion ; and the fourth a making a right conclufion, &c. Effay 
as above. 

Whoever undertakes to handle a text fyllcgiftically ought to 
take great care firft 1. to acquaint hixnfelf thoroughly with the 



t w ) 



Sometimes we mall find a proportion concealed^ 
Yv r hich it will be proper to fupply. You muft in fuch 
a cafe confider, whether the hidden propofition be 
important enough to make a part, which it will 
fometimes be, as in Rom. iv. l. What Jh all we fay 
then, that Abraham our father as pertaining to the 
fief o hath found? for if Abraham wer£ jufifed by 
<works, he hath whereof to glory ^ but not before God. 
Divide this text into two parts. I. Confider the 
queftion, What fhall we fay then, that Abraham our 
father as pertaining to the fefj hath found? And 
2. The folution. As to the queftion, firft eftablifh 
the fenfe, which depends on the meaning of the 
words after the flefh^ that is to fay, according to na- 
tural principles: either in regard to the birth of I- 
faac, who came into the world not in an ordinary 
way, and according the force of nature, for Sarah 
was barren and beyond the age of child-bearing ; or 
as Abraham's natural ftate in marriage was a figure 
of the ftate of his foul in regard to God. Accor- 
ding to the fefh^ alfo fignifies, according to works in 
regard to his juftification before God. The fenfe of 
the queftion is. then. What fjall we fay of Abraham 

whole do£trine of fyllogifms, otherwife he will render himfelf 
ridiculous, and tempt people to apply to him what Mr Locke 
fays of one who handles purely identical propofitions. It is like 
a monkey fhifting his oyiter from one hand to the other, and 
faying oyiter in right hand is fubjecl and oyfter in left hand is 
predicate, and fo make a felf-evident propofition of oyfter : that 
is, rafter is oyfter, &c. In fhort, the molt intelligible way is to 
range ideas in a fimple and plain order, which is molt natural and 
eafy. See to this purpofe the firft chapter of Elements of criti- 
fijm. Indeed we may fay of fyllogiftic trammels as a French 
poet fays of rhyming: 

La rhime eft un efclave, et ne doit qu' obeir. 
For rhyme is a Have and fnould only obey. 

J*j\leau* 

N2 



( ioo ) 



eur father? was he jufified before God by Ms 
works? Nor muft you fail to remark, that in St 
Paul's fenfe, according to the flefh, is oppofed to ac- 
cording to the promife; that is, in the way of nature 
oppofed to a fupernatural way. 

Secondly, Obferve the importance of the queftion 
with the Jews, who looked upon Abraham as their 
father, the root, of which they efteerned themfelves 
the branches, deriving all their claims from him; fo 
that it was extremely important to clear up the (late 
of Abraham, and in what manner he was juftified; for 
thereon depended the ruin of that pretended j unifica- 
tion, which the Jews endeavoured to eftablifh by the 
law, that is, by works. 

Pafs now to the folution, and obferve, that it is 
a reafon, and that the particle which we tranfiate 
but, mould be tranflated becaufe; thus, If Abraham 
tvere jujlified by works, he hath whereof to glory 
before God. Becaufe he hath nothing to glory of 
before God. By which we fee, there is a third pro- 
portion, which the apoftle concealed, but which 
muft necefsarily be fupplied, which is this conclu- 
fion, becaufe Abraham was not juftified by his works* 
As the folution of the queftion depends on this pro^ 
pofition, and on the proofs, which eftabiiih it/ the 
three proportions muft be treated feparately, i. 
Every man, who is juftified by works, hath whereof 
to glory before God, 2. Abraham, what advantages 
ibever he had otherwife, had nothing to glory of be- 
fore God. 3. The conclusion fupplied, becaufe A- 
braham was not juftified by his works. * 

* Thisverfeis differently underftood by expofi tors of equal 
learning. Mr Claude's fenfe of the paffage is very probablej 
and others who expound the verfe differently, bring it to the 
fame meaning. Slitchtingius txanfpofes the words, and, accor^- 



( 101 } 



There are texts of reafoning, which are compofed 
of an objection and the anfwer, and the divifion of 
fuch is plain ; for they naturally divide into the ob- 
jection and the folution. As Rom. vi. 1,2. What 
fhall we fay then^fhall we continue in fm y that grace 
may abound? God forbid: bow Jhall we^ that are 
dead to fin^ live any longer therein? Divide this 

ding to his reafoning, they read thus, What Jhall we fay then f 
that Abraham, ivho is our father after the fe/h hath found? Thefe" 
words according to the Jlejh> refer to the words our Father. The 
apoftle means that Abraham was indeed the Father of the 
Jews, but according to thefle/h, as they were fprung from him by 
carnal generation, &c. SliUhtingii com. in loc. 

Our Hammond denies this con ft ruction, and the learned Le 
Clerc reads the paflage thus, What [hall we say then? that Abra- 
ham our father hath found [cHARrN grace] according to the fle[hf 
that is in the judgment of man, or according to a carnal judg- 
ment. « If Abraham was jultified by works," if he was ac- 
counted juft for his works, kata sarka, in the judgment of 
men, " he hath whereof to glory," viz. pros ten sarka " before 
men-, but not before God,' 1 all' ou pros ton Tkeon. Le 
Clerc 's fupplement to Hammond's annot. in loc. 

Our author thinks there is a propofiticn concealed, a mode of 
fpeaking called by rhetoricians an apofiopefis. Mr Saurin gives 
two examples of the fame kind: Prov. xxii. 2. " The rich and 
the poor meet together, the Lord is the maker of them all/* 
This proportion, u the Lord is the maker of them all", is one of 
thofe concife and in fome fort, defective proportions, which a 
judicious reader muft fupply. The ftyle is common in 
fcripture, it is peculiarly proper in fententious works, fuch as 
the bcok of Proverbs, Solomon's defign is to teach us, that 
notwithstanding the great diverfity of conditions in fociety, the 
men, who compcfe it, are efentially equal. The reafon that he 
alledges, is, that " the Lord hath made them all." Unlefs we add 
to this what is wanting, it proves nothing at all. It does not 
follow, that two beings, which have the fame God for their au- 
thor, have for that reafon any refemblance; much lefs that they 
are equal. Is not God the anthor of thofe intelligences, who 
are not clothed with mortal flefh, and who have faculties above 
men ? Is not God the author of their exiftence ? Becaufe God 
hath made them all, does it follow that thefe two forts of being, 
are equal ? The fame God is no lefs the author of an ant, thafi 
of the molt fublime genius among men. but does it follow be- 
caufe the Lord hath made that ant, and this fublime genius 



( 102 ) 



Into two parts, the objection, and the anfwer. The 



that thefe two things are equal? The understanding of Solomon's 
words then depends on what the wife reader fupplies. "We may 
judge what ought to be fupplied, by the nature of the thing, 
and by a parrallel paffage in Job xxxi. 15. "Did not he, that 
made me in the womb, make him? and did not one fafhion us 
in the womb ?" He hath formed us all the fame, this muft be 
fupplied to our text, <c the Lord is the maker of them all." No- 
thing but a fund of ignorance or wickednefs will induce a man 
to abufe the liberty of fupplying, and to conclude, that he may 
add to a text whatever appears moft proper to favour the opi- 
nion, which he would defend, or the paffion, that he would pre- 
ferve. When we fearch truth, it is eafy to difcover in what texts 
the author ufes this fort of figurative ftyle. 

We may place in this rank all thofe which do not give diftin£t 
Ideas, or which convey ideas oppofite to the fpeaker's defign, at 
leaft unlefs we make the fupplement. For example, 2 Cor. xi. 
4. " For if he, that cometh, preacheth another Jefus, whom we 
have not preached, or if ye receive another fpirit, which ye have 
not received, or another gofpel which ye have not accepted, ye 
might well bear with him." If we affix to thefe words the ideas, 
which at firft fight offer, we fhould take the text in a fenfe di- 
rectly oppofite to the apoftle's. St Paul defired the Corinthians 
to refpe£t his miniftry, and to regard his apoftlefhip as confirmed 
of God, in a manner as noble and glorious, as that of any mini- 
fter, who had been with them. What does the propofition, 
which we have read, make for the apoftles's defign, if we do 
not fupply what is not exprefTed? But if we fupply what is un- 
derftoood. if we fupply thefe words, or others equivalent "this 
is not to be fuppofed;" we lhall perceive the folidity of his rea- 
foning, which comes to this. If you have had among you 
any one, by whofe miniftry you have known a redeemer more 
proper to heal your maladies than him, whom we have preached 
to you ; or if you haVe received more excellent gifts by him 
than thofe, which the holy fpirit fhed on you fo abundantly by 
my miniftry, you would do well to prefer that teacher before me: 
but this 'it is not to be fuppofed that you have had fuch teachers:' 
you ought then to refpecl my miniftry. SaurinSer. torn. vi. s. 8. 




fur Vegaliie des hommes 



C ios ) 



God forbid. In particular, how Jhall we live in fint 
And the reafon, we are dead to fin. 

There are fome texts of reafoning, which are ex- 
tremely difficult to divide, becaufe they cannot be 
reduced into many propofitions without confulion, 
or favouring too much of the fchools, or having a 
defecl: in the divifion ; in fhort, without being unfa- 
tisfa&ory. In fuch a cafe, let ingenuity and good 
fenfe contrive fome extraordinary way, which, if 
proper and agreeable, cannot fail of producing a good 
effect. For example, John i v. 10. If thou kneweft 
the gift of God, and who it is that faith to thee y 
Give me to drink, thou wouldeft have afked of him, 
and he would have given thee living water; I think 
it mightnotbe improperto divide into two parts, thefirft 
includingthe^^r^r^2/?//o// j- contained inthewords, 
and the fecond, the particular application of thefe to 
the Samaritan woman. In the firft, obferve thefe fol- 
lowing propofitions; That Jefus Chrift is the gift 
of God. * — That though he afked for drink he is 
the fountain of living water himfelf. — That he is the 
objecl of our knowledge, both as the gift of God, 
and as the fount of living water. — That an applica- 
tion to himf or this living water, flows from our know- 
ledge of him. — That he gives the water of life to all, 
who afk it. In the fecond part you may obferve, that 

* " Jefus Chrift is the gift of God." By gift of God many 
underftand the holy Spirit, which they afterwards think to be 
called the living water. Others underftand the gift of God ge- 
nerally, that is, whatever God can or ufualiy does give, and op- 
pofe the Gift of God to the Gift of Man, that is, to the water 
which the woman could give him. Others think that Chrift 
called himfelf ^ the Gift of God; as if he had faid; if thou knew- 
eft what a Gift God had given to Man, when he fent me unto 
them, and who I that am fent by him and fpeak with thee am, 
thou wouldeft have afked other water of me. 



( 104 ) 



Jefus Chrift did not difdain to converfe with a woman > 
f a Samaritan woman, a fchlfmatic* out of the com- 
munion of the vifible church, a very wicted woman, 
a woman, who in her fchifm and fin difputed againft 
the truth. — That Jefus Chrift improved this oppor- 
tunity to teach her his grace, without amufing him- 
felf with direclly anfwering what {he faid. — You 
may remark the Ignorance of this woman in regard 
to the Lord Jefus; fire faw him, fhe heard him : but 
fhe did notknow him; from which you may obferve, 
that this is the general condition of finners, who have 
God always before their eyes, yet never perceive him. 
<— That from the woman's ignorance arofe her ne- 
gligence and lofs of fuch a fair opportunity of be- 
ing inftru£ted. Obferve alio, the mercy of Jefus 
Chrift towards her ; for he even promifed to fave 
her. When he faid, If thou wouldft have ajhed of 
him he would have given thee living water) it was as 
much as if he had offered to inftru£t her. — Remark 
too that Jefus Chrift went even fo far as to command 
tier to afk him for living water ; for when he faid, 
If thou wouldejl have afked him, he did as much as 
fay, afk him now.— Obferve, finally, that he excited her 
to feek, and to know him, and removed her ignorance, 
the caufe of all her miftakes, and miferies. * 

f " Jefus Chrift converted with a woman." This conver- 
fation furprized the apoftles; for it was contrary to thecuftom 
of the Jews. 

* " Jefus Chrift converfed with a fchifmatic." Our Lord gives 
us here an example of that kind of treatment, which heretics and 
fchifmatics have a right to expecl: from us. 

* Ingenious extra-ways produce good effects. Thefe extra-ways 
are fometimes agreeably effected, and as agreeably introduced 
by able preachers. Thus Mr Saurin, on Jefus Chrift' s loft dif> 
courfe with his apoftfes, one ferm6n on the xiv. xv. and xviith 
chapters of John, introduces his divifion. " If it be allowable 



< 105 ) 

There are fometimes texts which imply many 
important truths without expreffing them, and yet 
it will be neceffary to mention and enlarge upon 
them, either becaufe they are ufeful on fome impor- 
tant occafion, or becaufe they are important of them- 
felves. Then the text muft be divided into two parts, 
one implied, and the other expreffed. I own, this 

to mention fuch things in the pulpit, I will ingenuoufly confefs 
the particular circumftance, which determined my choice o£ 
this fubje>£t. I was a few days ago a witnefs of the violent pains 
of a worthy pallor, whom death took away from a neigbouring 
church. God viiited him for feveral months with a trial (if I 
may be allowed to fay fo,) more than human : but he afforded 
more than human power to fupport it. I was aftoniihed at the 
greatnefs of his affliction, and more {till at the grentnefs of his 
patience, and'I afked him what part of religion had wrought this 
miracle in him? " Have you never attended, my dear brother/* 
replied he, " to the laft difcourfes of Jefus Chrift with his apo- 
ftles ? My God!" cried he, " what love! what tendernefs ! a- 
bove all, what an inexhauftible fource of confolations in extreme 
affliaions!" # . 

" I was {truck with this difcouife : I immediately thought 
of you, my dear brethren, and 1 faid to myfelf, My hearers 
had need be furnifned with this powerful confolation againft 
fufferings and death. To day I execute my defign. Concut 
with us in it, come and attend to the laft, the loving language 

of a dying Saviour. Jefus Chrift would guard his difciples, 

i. Againft the fcandal of the crofs. 2. Againft the perfecutions, 
which would follow his doctrine. 3. Againft forgetting his 
precepts. 4. Againft forrow on account of his abience, &c.'* 
Saur.fer. torn. v. fur les dern. difc. de Jefus Chrift. 

Bifhop Flechier, in his funeral oration for the Duke of Mon- 
taufier, on I Kings hi. 6. " He walked before thee in truth, and 
in righteoufnefs, and in uprightnefs of hearty" fays, " I confine 
myfelf to the words of my text, and intend to {hew you love 
for the truth, zeal for righteoufnefs, and uprightnefs of heart, 
which conftitute the character of this great man, whom you, 
with me, regret and admire- If I do not in this difcourfe, obferve 
the order, and rules of art,believe me, there is, I know not what,o£ 
irregularity in grief: that thefe great fubjects are a pain to thofe, 
wno treat of them-, and that this is rather an ejfufion of my heart 
than a premeditated ivork of my mind" Fkch* torn, ii. dern*oraifsn 
funeb* 

o 



( 105 ) 

way of divifion is bold, and muft neither be abufed, 
nor too often ufed : but there are occafions, it is cer- 
taio, on which it may be very juftly and agreeably 
taken. A certain preacher on a faft-day, having ta- 
ken for his fubjecl thefe words of Ifaiah, Seek the 
Lord while he may be found, divided his text into 
two parts, one implied, the other exprefled. In the 
jirjl he faid, that there were three important truths, 
of which he was obliged to fpeak. i. That God 
was far from us. 2. That we were far from him. 
And, 3. That there was a time, in which God would 
not be found, although we fought him. He fpoke 
of thefe one after another. In the firft he enume- 
rated the afflictions of the church, in a rnoft affecting 
manner; obferving that all thefe fid events did but 
too plainly prove the abfence of the favour of God. 
2. He enumerated the fins of the church, and (hew- 
ed how diftant we>were from God. And in the third 
place he reprefented that fad time, when God's pa- 
tience was, as it were, wearied out, and added, that 
then he difplayed his heavieft judgment without 
fpeaking any more the language of mercy. At length, 
coming to the part expreffed, he explained what it 
was to feek the Lord, and, by a pathetic exhortation , 
ftirred up his hearers to make that fearch. Finally 
he explained what was the time, in which God would 
be found, and renewed his exhortations to repentance, 
mixing therewith hopes of pardon, and of the bleff- 
ing of God. His fermon was very much admired, 
particularly for its order. 

In texts of hi/lory, divifions are eafy: fometimes 
an action is related in all its circumflances, and then 
you may confider the aclion in itfelf firft, and after- 
wards the circumjlances of the action, , 



( 107 ) 

Sometimes it is neceffary to remark the occafion of 
an a&ion, and to make one part of it. 

Sometimes there are actions and words, which 
muft be ccniidered feparately. 

Sometimes it is unneceflaryto make any divifionat 
all ; but the order of the hiftory muft be fotloweS. 
In fhort, it depends on the ftate of each text in par- 
ticular. % 

To render a divifion agreeable, and eafy to be re- 
membered by the hearer, endeavour to reduce it as 
often as poffible to fimple terms. By a Ample term 
I mean ^Jingle word, in the fame fenfe as in logic 
what they call terminus fimplex , is diftinguimed from 
what they call terminus complex. Indeed when the 
parts of a difcourfe are expreffed in abundance of 
words, they are not only emharraffing, butaifo ufe- 
lefs to the hearers, tor they cannot retain them. Re- 
duce them then as often as you can to a fmgle term. *f- 

* Molt, if not all thefe, may be exemplified by Mr Saurin's, 
firft volume on die hiftory of the pafTion of our Lord Jefus Chrift. 

f " Reduce the difcourfe to a few fimple leading thoughts, 
and fignify thefe by a few fimple terms, naturally ccnne&ed, 
with the-whole fubject." This muft needs be a great help to an 
extempore preacher as well as to the hearers. One of our old 
divines fpeaks well on this article : " The order and fumme of 
the facred and only method of preaching. 1 ' 

" i. To read the text diftin&ly out of the canonical fcrip- 
tures. 

" 2. To give the fenfe and understanding of it being read, by 
the fcripture itfelf. 

" 3. To collect a few and profitable points of doctrine out of 
the natural fenfe-. 

" 4. To apply (if he have the gift) the doctrines rightly col- 
lected, to the life and manners of men, in a fimple and' plain 
fpeech. 59 Perkins's works, vol. ii, p. 673. edit.fal. 1631 . 

Mr Perkins, in whofe time " it was the received cuftom for 
preachers to fpeak memonter> by heart" diftuaaes from the 
practice of preaching a fermon, which had been firft written, and 
then got by heart, for thefe good reafons : 1. It renders preaching 
a great labour, 2. If the preacher forget one word, it perplexes 



( 108 ) 

Obferve alfo, as often as poffible, to co?mecf the 
parts of your divifion together ; either by way of op- 
pofition, or of caufe and effect, or of aciion and end, 
or acTion and motive, or in fome way or other ; for 
to make a divifion of many parts, which have no 
connexion, is exceedingly offenfive to the hearers, 
who will be apt to think, that all you fay, after fach 
a divifion, is nonfenfe ; befide, the human mind na- 
turally loving order, it will much more eafily retain 
a divifion, in which there appears a connexion. * 

himfelf, and confufes the auditory. 3. Pronounciation, action, 
and the holy motions of affections are hindered, becaufe the mind 
Is wholly taken up with recollection and repetition. Perkins's 
art of prophesying, vol. ii. chap. 9. 

The inconveniencies of this dry lifelefs way of preaching, 
brought on the reading of fermons, which was afterwards forr 
bidden by a ftatuteof Charles II. to the univerfity of Cambridge. 
The ftatute fays, the lazy way of reading fermons began in the 
time of the civil wars. 

If the preacher thoroughly underfland his fubject, and be a 
man of tolerable elocution, he will be at no lcfs for words in 
general. 

Verbaque pri&vilam rem non invita fequentur. 

Horace, 

Mr Claude, indeed, does not fpeak here of the preacher; 
but of the hearers : and for their fakes would have the divifions 
few, and the terms expreflive of them fimple : a rule invariably 
pbferved by all good preachers. 

* This direction of Mr Claude's, like mod of his other rules, 
Is founded on the knowledge of human nature, which delights 
5n orderly connexions, and is extremely difgufled with every 
thing incongruous. To what purpofe is it for a preacher, in- 
ilead of keeping to the fubject of a text, which he himfelf has 
chofen, to repeat his creed and lug in all the articles of his faith, 
which perhaps have no relation, or only a very diftant one, to 
his text ? Or what end can it anfwer to open a budget of all 
manner of gatherings no way related to one another ? A cer- 
tain preacher, on Rev. i. 8. Iam alpha and omega, fays, "The 
phrafe is taken from the Greek alphabet, whereof alpha is the 
firit, and omega the laft. The firft and lad letters of the Greek 
alphabet is a description of me, fays Chrift, who am before all 



{ 109 ) 



As to fubdivifions, it is always neceflfary to make 
them ; for they very much affift composition, and 
diffufe perfpicuity into a difcourfe : but it is not al- 
ways needful to mention them ; on the contrary, they 
muft be very feldom mentioned ; becaufe it would 
load the hearer's mind with a multitude of particulars. 
Neverthelefs, when fubdivifions can be made agree- 
ably, either on account of the excellence of the matter, 
or when it will raife the hearer's attention, or when 
the juftnefs of parts harmonize agreeably one with 
another, you may formally mention them: but this 
muft be done very feldom, for the hearers would be 
prefently tired of fuch a method, and by that means 
cloyed of the whole. % 

and after all, who am above all, and in all, who am unchange- 
able in myfelf, and in my thoughts and good-will to linners. 
Therefore do not entertain any hard thoughts of me, as if i 
was iefs mindful, lefs pitiful, and lefs merciful now than when 
I was upon earth." I am alpha and omega, that is, the fir/}, and 
the laft; this is plain and eafy, and the relation obvious : but what 
have alpha and omega to do with above all, and in all with un- 
changeabknefs, mercy, pity, &c. A fermon divided thus may con-, 
tain great and good truths : but they do not flow from the text, 
nor have they any other than a very diftant relation to it, and, 
confequently, afford but a very cold entertainment to the hearer. 
See to this purpofe Dr Gibbon's rhetoric, p. 15. 47, &c. 

* Subdivjfions. This directs us how to underfcand Mr. Claude's 
whole book, which abounds with fubdivifions. It is plain he 
means chiefly to aid in compofmg, not to be mentioned in deliver- 
ing the fermon. He who divides and fubdivides in public in 
confequence of thefe rules, would ferve Mr. Claude, juftas a cer- 
tain commentator on the Apocalypfe ferved St. John. I have 
forgotten whofe comment it is, a friend {hewed it me fome years 
ago. The frontiipiece, in folio, is an enormous, gigantic picture 
of Jefus Chrift, 
Monftrumhorrendum, informe, ingens, cui lumen ademptum I 
An huge, an horrid, ill fnap'd eye-lefs monfter ! 
For the artift had literally copied Rev. i. 14. &c. His head and 
his hair nvere like a fleece of wool, for eyes he had. flames of fire, 
his legs and pet like pillars of brajs, and^ that nothing mould be 



( no ) 



CHAR V. 

Of Texts to be discussed by way of Explication. 

1 Proceed now from general to more particular rules., 
and will endeavour to give fome precepts for in- 
vention and difpofition. * 

Wanting, " he had in his right hand feven ftars, and out of his 
mouth went many waters, and a (harp two-edged fword. This 
literal frontifpiece frightens one from the comment, as a pile of 
divifions would make one difreliHi a fermon, and avoid the inju- 
dicious preacher. 

Upon this whole chapter I beg leave to add a few words from 
a fenfible writer. " Powerful ieafoning mould be the foul of all 
our fermons. Reafoning in eloquence is like love in religion : 
without love you may have the fhadow, but you cannot have the 
fub (lance of religion. Speak with the tongues of angels, poffefs 
the gift of prophecies, know all myfteries, have all faith, fo that 
you can remote mountains, diitribute all your goods to feed the 
poor, give your body to be burnt, without love you are nothing : 
if you have net love your virtue is only noife, it is only a found- 
ing brafs, and a tinkling cymbal. In like manner in regard to 
eloquence, fpeak with authority, open all the treafures of erudi- 
tion, give full fcope to a lively and fublime imagination, harmo- 
nize your periods, what will all your difcourfes without reafon 
be ? a noife, a founding brafs, a tinkling cymbal. You may 
confound : but you cannot convince ; you may dazzle : but you 
cannot inftrucl: ; you may delight ; but you will never be able to 
change, to fan&ify, and to transform your hearers." Saur.fer. 
torn v. pour — Pentecote. 

% " Some precepts for invention and dirpc^'ticn." This in* 
mention of arguments is the finding out of reafons proper to prove 
any article in quetiion ; and the dispofition of them is the arrange* 
ment of them in that order* which is molt likely to produce- the 
effect, that is, the conviction of the auditor. The fkill of a 
preacher very much appears in both thefe. The firft diftin- 
guifhes a rational difcourfe from mere declamation, and the laft 
diftinguifhes it from thofe confufed compilations, which differ as 
much from a regular fermon as a beggar's baiket differs from a 
table properly adjufted. 



< in ) 

fuppofe then, in the firft place, that no man will 
be fo rafh as to put pen to paper, or begin to difcufs a, 
text, till he has well comprehended the fenfe of it, 
I have given no rule about this before ; for a man, 
who wants to be told, that he ought not to preach on 
a text, before he underftands it, ought at the fame 
time to be informed, that he is fitter for any other 
profeffion than that of a mmifter, * 

Voffius diftinguifhes logical invention and difpofition, from 
rhetorical invention and difpofition \ and they are diitinguifhable 
not only by their end : but by their own nature. 

* " A preacher mud underftand his text." Every kind of 
knowledge may fubferve religion : but the knowledge of the 
holy fcriptures is the grand article to a chriftian minifler. "The 
itudy of fcripture is not only a rnmifter's general but particular 
calling. Suppofe you mould know what Plato and Ariftotle^ 
with the reft of the princes of worldly learning have written, and 
fliould encircle all the arts within your circumference, you would 
be Paul's unlearned perfon, as unfit to be a mintfter as he, that 
hath read all the body of the law, is to be a phyjician, if ignorant 
of this art. I do not here intend to nourifh the vain conceit of 
thofe fons of ignorance, who think human learning unnecefTary 
for the miniiter's furniture truly without this we mould foon 
come to our old mumpjimus, and run into the barbarifm of for- 
mer times." Guy mall's /word of the Spirit , chap, xxx. fol. edit,, of 
his works. 

Buddeus requires in a preacher, i. Natural abilities, i. Judg- 
ment to difcern true from falfe, to lay down principles, to draw 
conclulions, &c. 2. Genius to compofe, and to arrange his fub- 
je&s perfpicuoufly, diitinctly and elegantly, &c. and 3. Memory 
to retain languages, and branches of knowledge of various kinds* 
Sec. 2. Spiritual gifts, by which he means chriftian graces, 
fuch as faith, love, &c. which are not only fpiritual themfelves: 
but which alio fanclify the gifts of nature. 3. Moral virtues, 
fuch as love of labour, prudence, fortitude, &c. 4. Bodily en- 
dowments, &c. And 5. What he calls, a certain inftincl, or a pe- 
culiar impulfe to a certain kind of ftudy. He allows, there are 
different degrees of thefe qualifications, and that, therefore, a 
young preacher mould not be difcouraged, although he may not 
find thefe in himfelf in their higheft perfection ; efpeciaiiy, as 
much application of a little genius is equal to little application of 
a great genius. After all, lie enquires, whether a young gentle- 
man, who, after he has taken up the minijtry, finds himfelf inca- 



( 112 ) 



I fuppofe, fecondly, that the ftudent, having well 
tmderftood the fenfe of his text, begins by dividing it, 
and that, having the feveral parts before his eyes, he 
very nearly fees what are the fubje&s, which he will 
have to difcufs, and confequeutly, what ought to en- 
ter into his compofition. * 

I fuppofe, farther, that he is a man not altogether a 
novice in divinity : but that he is acquainted with 
common-places, and the principal queftions, of which 
they treat, -f 

pable of executing it, may lay it down, and betake himfelf to 
fome other courfe of life as law or phyfic. He would not have 
him determine rafhly on his cafe : but, if his inability be fuch, 
that he cannot fill his office, he allows, it is right to refign it. 
Buddei Ifagog> torn, poller, lib. i. cap. 2. 

k * As for compofing (fays Bifhop Wilkins) it will not be conve* 
ftient for a conftant preacher to pen all his difcourfe, or to tye 
himfelf to phrafes ; when the matter is well digefted, exprefficns 
will eafily follow, whereas to be confined to words, befides the 
expreffion of the memory, will much prejudice the operations of 
the underftanding and affection. The judgment will be much 
weakened, and the affections dulled, when the memory is over- 
burdened. A man cannot ordinarily be fo much affected him- 
felf, and confequently he cannot affect others, with things he 
fpeaks by rote ; he fhould take fome liberty to profecute a mat* 
ter according to his more immediate apprehenfions of it ; by which 
many particulars may be fuggefted not before thought of, ac- 
cording to the working of his own affections, and the various al- 
terations, that may appear in the auditory : and befides, they will 
breed a parresia, fuch a fitting confidence as fhould be in that 
orator, who is to have a power over the affections of others, which 
fuch a one is fcarce capable of. Wilkins' s ecclefiad -feci. 2. 

f " Acquainted with common places." Common-places are 
collections of arguments, arranged under the feveral terms, or 
fubjects, to which they belong. 

If one may venture to judge by the numerous books of com- 
mon places, and by the allowed abilities of the writers, this kind 
of books has been found extremely ufeful to divines. Of the 
Lutherans. Chemnitius, Chytrseus, Gefner, Glaffius, Melanct- 
hon, and many others of note ; of the Calvinifts, Alfred, Bui* 



( . m ) 



Suppofing all thefe, the firft thing that I would 
have fuch a man do, is to obferve the nature of his 

linger, Charmer, Martyr, Mufculus, Cranmer, and others of 
great name ; of Catholics, and Jews, men of high repute; have 
publimed common-place books. It feems ram, therefore, wholly 
to condemn them, as fome affect to do. Vide Lipenii bibl iheoL 
i?i verb, loci communes. 

Mufculus, who wrote one of thefe common-place books, ad- 
vifes his readers to perufe writings of this kind with caution, in 
confederation of the fallibility of the writers, to try them by the 
holy fcripturcsy thankfully to receive what articles are conforma- 
ble to them, and to pafs by the reft without calumniating the au- 
thors. This is fpeaking like a man. A rational reader can afk 
no more. " Vide Mufculi loc. com. theol. pnefationem ad lec- 
tor. 

Alas, my brethren ! (fays Monf. Maffillon to his clergy) the 
prieits under the law, convinced that the knowledge of its pre- 
cepts and ordinances was infeparable from the priefthood, affec- 
ted to wear them upon their garments. — This was indeed a pha- 
rifaical and ridiculous oftentation : but we may at leaft learn by 
it, that a prieft mould never go any where without the law, not 
indeed fattened to his habit ; but deeply engraven upon his mind 
and heart. Even among the heathen, the idolatrous priefts, 
whofe employment was an aftiduous ftudyof the fabulous extra- 
vagances of their mythology, even they lived retired in their tem- 
ples, that they might be always ready to inftrucl theabufed peo- 
ple, who came to confult them about their impure and fenfelefs 
myfteries before initiation. And we, my brethren ! feparated to 
inform ourfelves thoroughly of a religion fo fublime and divine, 
commanded to fatiate ourfelves with a doclrine, every way fo wife 
and comfortable, which Jefus Chrift brought from the bofom of. 
his father, do we find no relifh for learning, meditating, and 
ftudying it ? do we regret the moments, wherein we are obliged 
to confult it ? are we not afhamed of being ignorant, not only 
of the moft fublime and difficult, but even of the moft effential 
points of our miniftry ? Do we content ourfelves with a grofs 
and fuperficial knowledge ? fhall we not enter by a ferious appli- 
cation into the fpirit and life of that holy gofpel, of which we 
are interpreters? How then can we inftrucT: thofe, whofe fouls 
are committed to our care ? how can the people be acquainted 
with thofe truths, of which their paitors themfelves are ignorant I 
&c « Maffillon difcours fynodaux, dif. 16." 
^ Not a novice, (fays Mr. Claude, alluding to i Tim. iii. 6.) 
that is, not a new convert, and, tor a much ftronger reafon, not 
•ne, who is not converted at all. 

P 



( H4 } 

text, for there are doctrinal, hiftorical, prophetical, 
and typical texts.. Some contain a command, others 
a prohibition ; fome a promife, others a threatning ; 
fomeawifh, others an exhortation; fome a cen- 
fure, others a motive to aftion ; fome a parable, 
fome a reafon ; fome a comparifon of two 
things together, fome avifion, fome a thankfgiving ; 
fome a defcription of the wrath, or majefty, of God, 
of the fun, or fome other thing: a commendation of 
the law, or of fome perfon ; a prayer; an amplifica- 
tion of joy, or affliction ; a pathetic exclamation of 
anger, forrow, admiration, imprecation, repentance, 
confeffion of faith, patriarchal or paftoral benedic- 
tion, confolation, &c, I take the greateft part to be 
mixed, containing different kinds of things. It is 
very important for a man, who would compofe, to 
examine his text well upon thefe articles, and careful- 
ly to diftinguiih all its chara&ers, for in fo doing he 
Will prefently fee w hat way he ought to take *• 

"* t( A preacher muft examine his text." And, may we not 
add, he ought fir ft to examine his own heart, and if he be ani- 
mated with the pure defire of pleafing God, he may very ration- 
ally pray, yea he ought to pray for the promifed ajftftance of the 
holy Spirit ? The directions, and examples, of the greateft or- 
naments of the Chriftian pulpit enforce this advice, and free it 
from the fufpicion of enthufiafm. Purity of heart, prayer to 
God, and diligent Jludy, mould go together. S. Chryfoftom 
advifes a chriftian minifter neither to condemn, nor to court the 
tipplaufes of his hearers : but to maintain a holy indifference to- 
wards them. He would have him bend all his attention to the 
pleafing of God, and make this the general ruling law of his 
compoiition, and preaching outos gar kanon ki oros esto 
monos. If adds he, his reafoning, his learning, and his elo- 
quence, be directed to this great end, his confeience will atteft 
the purity of his intentions, and thence he will derive abundant 
fatisfa£t,ion in his labours. De facerdotio, lib. v< /. 7. edit. 
Hughes. 

When a preacher has examined his heart on this article, 
when he finds himfelf animated neither with ambition, r.or a- 



( H5 ) 



Having well examined of what kind the text is, 
enter into the matter, and begin the compofition ; for 
which purpofe you muft obferve, there are two ge- 
neral ways, or two manners of compofmg. One is 

Varice, nor any other fordid motive : but with a fincere defire of 
pleafing God, he may boldly pray for divine affi/lance. 

Juftin Martyr tells us, that he, having from his earlieft youth 
a defire of knowledge, fought it firft from a ftoic, then from a 
peripatetic, then he applied to a pythagorean, and at length to 
a follower^of Plato : but another, who was his lad mailer, pleafed 
him belt, He was a venerable old man, into whofe company 
he providentially fell in a retirement, to which he had with- 
drawn, that he might purfue his ftudies without interruption. 
The old gentleman fat very light by Pythagoras and Plato, and 
bade him exchange them for the prophets and apoftles *, and 
when Juftin wanted to know who mould teach him their 
meaning, " God only, faidhe, can give you rightly to under- 
Hand them, therefore above all things, addrefs your prayers to 
him.'' J l ift' Martyr dial, cum Tryph. 

S. Aultin (fays Mr Rollin) would have a chriftian minifter 
rely much more on prayer than on his abilities \ and, before he 
fpeaks to the people, would have him addrefs the creator, who 
only can infpire him with what he ought to fpeak, and the mari- 
ner in which it is to be fpoken. Belles Litres, vol.-'iu chap. 3. 

7:4. 

Here follows a tranflation of an ancient prayer before reading 
the fcriptures. " O almighty, eternal, and merciful God ! 
whofe word is a light to our feet, and a lanthorn to our paths, 
open and illuminate my mind, that I may clearly underltand thy 
holy oracles, and be transformed into the doctrines of them, fo 
that in all things I may pleafe thy majefty thro' Jefus Chrift, 
thy fon, our Lord, Amen," 

Purity of intention, and prayer to God, however efTcntial to 
a chriftian minifter, are not the whole- To them he mult join 
diligent Jludy, and this will diftinguifh him from thofe enthufiafts, 
who pray : but who do not ftudy, becaufe they truft to imme- 
diate fuggeftions, and expecl: new revelations. 

No impattial reader can doubt -of the fincerity and devotion 
of many of the ancient fathers yet every one muft wifh, that, 
to thefe excellent qualifications, they had added learning and 
labour, and had not trufted, as they feem to have done, too much 
. to their own private fuggeftions. 

One of thefe good men begins " a comment on the Canti- 
cles" with an excellent exhortation to his friends to aflift him in 



( us ) 



the way of explication, the other of obfervations : nor 
inuft it be imagined, that you may take which of the 
two ways you pleafe on every text, for fome texts 
cannot be treated in the explicatory method, and o- 
thers neceffarily require the way of obfervations. 
When yen have a point ofdoclrine to treat of, you 
muft have recourfe to explication, and when a text 
of bjftory, the only way is obfervation. 

In difcemment upon this article the Judgment of 
a man confifts ; for, as texts of fcripture are almoft 
infinite, it is impoffible to give perfect rules there- 
upon ; it depends in general on good fenfe : only 
this I fay, when we treat of a plain fubjecT, common 
and known to all the world, it is a great abfurdity to 
take the way of explication, and when w r e have to 
treat of a difficult or important fubjedt, which re- 
quires explaining, it would be equally ridiculous to 
take the way of obfervations. 

The difficulty, of which we fpeak, may be conn- 

praying to God for thofe virtues, which are neceffary to an ex- 
pofitor of holy fcripture : but he makes a fad miftake, when he 
adds, " Purity of heart and prayer are fufficient to enable a man 
to underftand all the myfteries of Solomon's Song. Alas ! what 
can illiterate piety do with an ill-tranflated Hebrew ode ? What 
can piety alone do with an eaftern allegory ? This pious trifler 
himfelf may ferve to anfwer us. 

Solomon's bed is the church — the Jtxty valiant men about it are 
the fix working days of the week, and the ten commandments 
—the thread of fcarlet is a confefTion of faith in the doclrine 
of the trinity, and the death of Chrift — My beloved put in his 
hand by the hole, that is, Thomas thruit his hand into the 
iide of Chrift. This devout rhapfody the holy man calls heaven- 
ly food, and he advifes his readers to live upon it with " the lips 
of cogitations, and the teeth of meditations. Philon. Carpath. 
epifc. in Cantic. interp. apud bibliot. patrum, torn. i. 

The reader may find plenty of reveries of this kind in the 
Bibliotheca Patrum, or he may furnifh himfelf with numerous 
treatifes of the fame kind in his mother tongue, choice, and 
cheap, 



( nl ) 

dered, either in regard to the terms of the text only, 
the fubjeft itfelf being clear, after the words are ex-< 
plained ; or in regard to the fubjeci only, the terms 
themfelves being very intelligible; or in regard to 
both terms a?id tbitigs. 

If the terms be obfcure, we muft endeavour to 
give the true fenfe : but if they be clear it would be 
trifling to affecl: to make them fo ; and we muft pafs 
on to the difficulty, which is in the fubject itfelf. 
If the fubjeci: be clear, we muft explain the terms, 
and give the true fenfe of the words. If there ap- 
pear any abfurdity or difficulty in both, both muft be 
explained : but always begin with the explanation 
of the terms. * 

* Explain a text. Many are the canons of interpreting fcrip- 
ture, which learned men have given : but, of all others, that, 
which the Bifhop of Carlifle has laid down, muft needs (land 
firft-in every impartial eye. " As to the fundamental parts of 
Chrift's religion, and his manner of declaring them ; both thefe 
were eafy and obvious, fuch as the weakeft and moft igmrbnt 
(unlefs affectedly fo ) could not miftake ; and propofed in that 
plain, and popular way, to which they were mofl accuftomed, and 
in which they would be molt likely to apprehend him. And it 
is worth remarking, that, wherever his words feem capable of 
different fenfes, we may with certainty conclude that to be the 
true one, which lay mofl level to the comprehenfion of his audi- 
tors ; allowing for thofe figurative expreflions, which were fo 
very frequent and familiar with them ; and which therefore are 
no exceptions to this general rule, this neceffary canon of inter- 
pretation, which of all others, I think, wants moft to be recom- 
mended." Dr Law's reflections on the life and character of Chrift, 
p. 326. 

Explain obfcure terms. Some terms are obfcure, becaufe they 
are obfoiete. How long will ye feek after leafing ? Pfalm iv. 2. 
If I have not charity, I am nothing, 2 Cor. xhi; 2. Nor the 
habergeon, Job xl, 26. 

Some are obfcure, becaufe they are not tranflated. Abraham 
called the place Jehovah-jireh, Gen. xxii 14. Cries enter into 
the ears of the Lord of fabaoth, James v. 4. 

Some words are obfcure even in the original, and cannot be' 



( 118 ) 



In the explication of the terms ^ firft propofe what 
they call ratio dubitandi^ that is, whatever makes the 
difficulty. The reafon of doubting, or the intricacy, 
arifes often from feveral caufes. Either the terms do 
not feem tamake any fenfe at all ; or they are equi- 
vocal, forming different fenfes ; or the fenfe, which 
they feem at firft to make, may be perplexed, impro- 
per, or contradictory; or the meaning, though clear 
in itfelf, may be controverted, and expofed to cavil- 
lers. In all thefe cafes, after you have propofed the 
difficulty, determine it as briefly as you can ; for 
which purpofe avail yourfelf of criticifms, notes, 
comments, paraphrafes, &c and, in one word, of the 
labours of other perfons. * 

tranflated, as hlggaion, felah. The latter occurs 71 times in the 
Pfalms, and three times in Habbacuc : but its meaning is un- 
known. It was probably a mufical mark : but, " what it figni- 
fies is very uncertain,'' fays Bythner. Lyra prophet. Davidis in 
pfal. iii. 3. 

Some are falfly tranflated, and are therefore obfcure. In- 
tending after Eafter to bring him out, Acts xiii. 

Jonah was in the whale's belly, Matt, xii. 4c. 

Our verfions, it is faid, often confound perfons, countries, and 
actions *, coins, weights, and meafures ; animals, trees, and 
fruits j and, what is worfe than all, obfcure the attributes of the 
glorious God. See Effiy for a new tranflation of the Bible. 

" Explain obfcure fubjects." Our author will elucidate his 
meaning prefenly. He aiivifes minifters generally to preach 
on plain fubjetls ; but fome fubjec~ts, plain of themfelves, are 
perplexed by circumftances, and thefe Mr Claude means. 

* Avail yourfelf of ' criticifmst Although fubftantial well fup- 
ported criticifm be one of the greateft bleffings of a nation, 
which is thereby delivered from thoufands of grofs fuperftitions, 
to which lefs inquifitive times have been enllaved ; yet if criti- 
cifm, or an ability to judge of writings, be, as that prince of an- 
cient critics, Longinus, calls it, polles peiras teleutaion 
epigennema, "the laft ofFspring of long experience:"- it can 
be no difparagement to any young gentleman to avoid uttering 



i »1» ) 



If none of thefe anfwer your expectation, endea- 
vour to find fomething better yourfelf, to which pur- 

his own criticifms in public till age and private ftudies havs 
rendered him capable. Longin.de fublim. f. 6 

Father Hardouin, the jefuit, was undoubtedly a man of great 
learning : but for want of judgment, which does not always 
accompany learning and ingenuity, how ridiculous do feme 
of his criticifms in his chro?iologi# render him! he endeavours 
not only to father Tertullian and Origen, but even Homer and 
Plato, upon the monks of the thirteenth century ; and, by a rnoft 
profound art of criticifm proves Virgil's iEneas to be Jefus 
Chrift, and the miftrefs of Horace the bride of the Lamb. Har- 
douin chronoU ex num. antiq. restit. prolus* 

" Avail yourfelf of notes, comments, and paraphrafes. Many 
catalogues of the writers on every fubjecl: have been publifiied., 
and fome of the publifhers have given characters of the authors ; 
but thefe, in many cafes, are partial, and every man ought to 
judge forhimfelf. 

See " Lipenii bibliot. theol et philof. Gefneri bibliot. Mo- 
lani bibliot. &c. &c. A great number are afTorted in Wilkin' s 
icclefiafles. — Our modern expofitors are well known. 

I have heard of a worthy minifter, who, being too poor to 
purchafe expofitors, procured an interleaved bible: and from 
borrowed books ; fermons, that he heard and his own obfer- 
vations, entered on the blank leaves ; compofed a very fenfible, 
and judicious, though {hort expofition for his own ufe. Such 
notes are very ufeful to thofe, who have libraries, and they 
feem abfolutely neceflary to them, who have none. 

Some divines of great judgment advife c< the reading of the 
fathers. v Some of them are voluminous, and m@ft of them 
at places great triflers-, but furely not more fo than Arilto- 
phanes and Ovid. If Petronius, Terence, and Juvenal may be 
read advantageoufly, why not the Fathers ? In the pagan wri- 
ters we meet with incentives to vices, which we are as ready to 
practife now as they were formerly: but in the fathers we find 
itrong inducements to virtue, only mixed with fome old-fafhion- 
ed oddities, which nobody is in danger of believing now. Ma- 
ny of the molt admired pieces of fome moderns are made up of 
the fentiments of the fathers, adapted to the genius of the pre- 
fent age. This is remarkably true of the belt modern catholic 
divines. 

It was from philofophy, (fays Rollin) and especially from 
Plato's, that the ancients imagined, that fund of knowledge 
might be imbibed, which only can form the good orator. 
But chrift ian orators have infinitely more pure and more abun= 



( 120 ) 

pofe, examine all the circumftances of the text, what 
precedes, what follows, the general fcope of the dif- 
courfe, the particular defign of the writer in the place, 
where your text is, the fuhjeci of which it treats, pa- 

dant fources, whence they ought to draw this fund of know- 
ledge; thefe fprings are the fcriptures and thefathers, What riches 
do they contain ? and how culpable would that perfon be, who 
fhouM neglect fo precious a treafure? That man who is much 
converfant in them will eafily be mailer of elocution. - --A 
preacher of genius and elocution, finding himfelf in the midft 
of thefe immenfe richesj of which he is allowed to take what- 
ever he pleafes, can he fail of delivering himfelf in a grear, no- 
ble, majeftic, and at the fame time folid and inftruftive manner ? 
---I again repeat, that this advantage is of ineftimable value, 
and does not require infinite pains or time. Some years of re- 
tirement would fuffice for thisftudy, how extenfive foever it may 
appear : and that man who fhould have made himfelf mafter on- 
ly of the homilies of Chryfoftom, and Auftin's fermons on the 
old and new teftament, with fome other treatifes of the latter, 
would find in them all that is necefiary to form an excellent 
preacher. Belles lettres, vol. ii. c. 3. s, 4. 

RoJlin, we muft remember, though an excellent man, was a 
Roman Catholic : but protectants have faid almoft as much on 
the fame fubjecl. I will- add teftimonies from three of them. 
Monf. Daille fays, We ought to read the fathers carefully.' ' 
And the whole defign of his famous piece, " on the ufe of the 
fathers," is not to difcourage the reading of them, as fome have 
faid: but only to prove that " they could not be judges of the 
controversies in religion at that day betwixt the papifts and pro- 
teftants/' Preface to Daille' 's use of the fathers. 

There are three capital miftakes in regard to books. 1. Some 
through their own indolence, and others, from a fincere belief 
of the vanity of human fcience, " read no book but the bible." 
But thefe good men do not confider, that, for the fame reafons, 
they ought not to preach fermons ; for fermons are Ubri, ore, 
vivaque voce, pronunciatu The holy fcriptures are iiluftrated by 
other writings, Liter as mifceo profanas, ut facras illuftrent, fays 
one, who well exemplified the rule. <f Selden in pnef . ad tracl. 
de diis Syris. 

2. Others collect great quantities of books for (hew, and not 
for fervice. Of fuch as thefe Lewis XL of Prance fmarily 
faid, (€ They referable hunch-baked people, who carry a great 
burden, which they never fee." This is a vain parade, even un- 
worthy of reproof. If an illiterate man think by this ait to co- 



( 121 ) 



rallel paflages of fcrlpture 5 which treat of the fame fur> 
je£t, or thofe, in which the fame expreffions areufed, 
&c. and by thefe means it is almoft impoffible, that 
you fhould not content yourfelf. Above all, take care 
not to make of grammatical matters a principal part : 
but only treat of them as previoufly neceffary for un- 
derstanding the text * 

ver his ignorance, he miftakes ; he affects modefty, and dances 
naked in a net to hide his fbarne ! 

3. Others purchaie large libraries, with a fincere defign of 
reading all the books. But a very large library is learned luxu- 
ry, not elegance, much lefs utility. Of what ufe to me are 
thofe numberlefs Books and libraries, whofe owner can fcarce 
read the indexes in my whole life. The multitude overloads, not 
informs me, " Seneca de tranquil, anim. cap. x. 

A collection of felecl: books well read feems to be the fort of 
a private minifter. See that excellent little piece, " Seldenus 
de libris, varioque eorum ufu, etahufu. 

* Do not make a principal part of grammatical matters. 
Grammatical remarks, however, are abfolutely neceffary for the 
underftanding of fcripture, for to give only one fmgle inftance, 
what grols miftakes mult lie make, who does not know the fol- 
lowing diftindtions? 

Since words are only figns of Ideas, and are formed by men, 
as the philofophers teach; it follows that words may be reduced 
to as many claffes, as there are kinds of Ideas. Whatever we 
revolve in our minds, when we think of any thing, we call 
Ideas. Therefore they may be reduced to feven claffes. 1. There 
are fimple and compound Ideas. 2. There are Ideas of fubftan- 
ces and modes. 3. There are relative Ideas. 4. There are 
concrete and abftracl: Ideas. 5. There are general or fingular 
Ideas. 6. There is no Idea which may not be called clear or 
obfcure. 7. Laftly, There are, which philofophers call adequate 
Ideas: But there are fome which almoft equally belong to all 
thefe. As, r. Languages do not fufficiently anfwer to each 
other. For example, O (men) umejs O akdres, Athenaioi, 
Quid vos viri Athenienfes. 2. That many words feem empha- 
tic in a tranflation, which have no emphafis in the original. 
Hebrsei dicunt moriendo morieris, &c. Le Gere's Ars crit. de 
linguarum diffimilitudine. 

If it be alked, whether the words of holy fcripture be come 
down to us as origiaally delivered ? or whether thefe writing* 

Q 



( m ) 

To proceed from terms to things. They muft 
as I have faid, be explained, when they are either 
difficult or important. There are feveral ways of 
explication. You may begin by refuting errors, in- 
to which people have fallen : or you may fall upon 
the fubjecl: immediately, and fo come to a fair and 
precife declaration of the truth, and, after this, you may 
dilate, (if I may venture to fay fo) by a deduction of 
the principles, on which the text depends, and on the 
effential relations, in which it ought to be confidered. 
Take the following example; 

A£ts ix. 5. // is hard for thee to kick again/} the 
pricks. Firft, you muft propofe the difficulty, that 
is is found in the terms, which do not feem to give 
any juft fenfe ; for, fpeaking of St Paul's converfion, 
what do thefe words mean, It is hard for thee to 
kick again/} the pricks? We eafiiy perceive, it is a 
comparifon taken from a vicious horfe, that will not 
obey his rider, when he fpurs him ; but on the con- 
trary refills and kicks. We readily underftand by the 
pricks the voice and grace of Jefus Chrift, who out- 
wardly and inwardly urged Paul to his converfion. 
Moreover, we underftand very well, that the mind 
and heart of Paul refilled the call of the Lord, and 
the inward motions of his holy Spirit, reprefented 
by the phrafe kick again/} the pricks. But what do 

have not undergone the fste of all other ancient books ? Thefe 
queftions may receive an anfwer from Kennicot's State of the 
Hebrew text; from Mill s and Wetftein's edition of the New 
Teftament ; and from the critical works of many other learned 
writers. Le Clerc, after much on the fubject, adds, — We have 
great reafon to blefs God that our faith doth not depend upon 
one or two places or on any word which might be altered by 
the negligence or wickednefs of Scribes or Divines. In every 
thing which is absolutely neceffary, there is a fufFicient agree* 
;»i€nt in fcripture to take away all doubt. 



( 123 ) 

thefe words then mean, It is hard for thee to refift 
my grace? Should any one fay, it was impoffible for 
him to refift the almighty power of the fpirit of 
Jefus Chrift; we mould reply, it is certain, the ori- 
ginal word cannot be taken in this fignirkation. It 
fignifies a thing bard, troublefome^ difagreeable dif- 
ficult to bear: but it never iignines an impoffible 
thing. * But, if we take the word in its true 
meaning, what does Jefus Chrift intend by this lan- 
guage, // is troublefome, it\ is difagreeable to thee to 
refft my grace f On the contrary, in the moment of 
a finner s coverfion, they are the motions of grace, 
which are difagreeable and troublefome, and the re- 
finances of corrupt nature are eafy and agreeable. In 
thefe conflicts we confider grace as an enemy, whom 
we are glad to drive away and conquer; it is then 
troublefome to feel the urgings of grace: but it is eafy 
to refift them. 

The difficulty being thus propofed, and placed in 
its proper light, the words muft be explained by 
obferving, that, inftead of tranflating them it is hard 
for thee to kick agahifl the pricks , we muft render 
them, it is thy hardnefs, that kicketh againjl the 
prices, or that refifteth my grace; for skleros soi, 
'according to the common ufage of the Greek tongue, 
Is put for sklerotes sou, it is thy hardnef* Thus the 
fenfe of Jefus Chrift is clean He meant, that the re- 
fiftance, which Paul made to the motions of his grace, 
proceeded from the hardnefs of his heart^thaX is, from 
his natural blindnefs and corruption; from his pre- 
judices in favour of the Jewifh religion ; from the 

* Skleros, durus, hard, is ufedonly metaphorically in the new 
teftament. Thus Mat. xxv. 24. Skleros anthropos, a hard, 
i. e. a fevere man. John vi. 60. Skleros logos, a hard) i. e. 
an abfurd fpeech. James iii. 4, 



( 124 ) 

pride wherewith pharifaifm had infpired him ; and 
from the hatred he had conceived againfl chriftian- 

After this, you muft propofe another difficulty, 
which regards the fubjecl itfelf ; for the former only 
refpe&s the fenfe of the words. You may there- 
fore add, that this difcourfe of Jefus Chrift feems to 
difagree with the doctrine of irrejijlibk grace ; * for 
this do&rine direcls us to conceive of grace as of an 
infinite power, which glorioufly triumphs over the 
heart of man ; which bows and turns it as it pleafes 
God, and infpires it with fuch motions as feem good 
to him ; as a light, that illuminates the eyes of our 
underftanding,diffipating our darknefs and ignorance. 
Much lefs ftill does the language of Jefus Chrift feem 
to agree with what the fcripture elfewhere fays, that 
he attracts us with the favour of his good ointments*, 
that he ivorks in us to will and to do; that he draws 
us with the cords of a man y and the bands of love. 

* Irrefijtihle grace. Few fubjec"ls have been fo much contrcu 
verted as this, from St Auftin's time to the prefent : but, as 
neither learning, nor law, nor councils, have been able to fettle 
the difpute, and as great evils have been produced by it, any- 
modern minifter may with a good grace decline the controver- 
fy. See Vojfilhifi, Felag. etUferii Gottejchalci et pradeft. cotitrov . 
ab eo moitz hift. 

The primitive fathers held different opinions about grace and 
free-will, and molt of them fpeak obfcurely and contradictorily 
about human depravity, and divine affiftance. However, to their 
praife be it faid, they agreed to differ. Vid. Centuriat. Madge- 
bur?, cent. ii. cap. 5. Inclinat doclrina. 

r ihe author of chrifcianity has not entered any definitive pro<r 
pofiiion on this difpute in the facred code ; no chriitian, therefore, 
difobeys him by not fubfcribing an article about it. Plain 
chriftians feem to be nearefh the truth ; for they believe, with- 
out metaphyseal fpecuiations, that " the deftru&ion of the 
wicked is all of themfelves, and the falvationof the righteous all 
of the Lord. 



( 125 ) 



How then Is it poffible for us to refift the motions of 

his grace ? 

To explain thefe difficulties, you muft obferve, 
that the triumph of grace is not inftantaneous ; that 
immediately, when it folicits us in propofing divine 
objects to us, all thofe objects, which attach us to the 
world, rife and prefent themfelves to our minds ; fud- 
denly there is a confultation in us, and a conflict be- 
tween fpiritual and carnal objects ; that our hearts, 
full of the world, with pleafure attend to all on that 
fide to prevent the change, and, on the contrary, with 
reluctance they attend to what grace propofeth ; for 
grace is a ftranger, and a man muft condemn himfelf 
to follow it, Add to all this, pleafures and carnal in- 
terefts pofTefs all our love, and we have a natural 
averfion to the crofs of afflictions, which accom- 
panies the profeffion of the gofpel. This is the 
meaning of the phrafe, kick againji the pricks^ and 
this comes from the hardnefs of our hearts ; but in 
the elect of God grace finally furmounts all the op- 
pofitions of fin, and obtains a complete and entire 
victory over it. Therefore when we fay, grace is 
irrefiftible, efficacious, and victorious, we do not 
mean, that in the firft moments there is not a vio- 
lent and terrible conflict, we only mean, that, in the 
end, victory declares for the grace of the gofpel, 

The fcripture, it is true, fpeaks of the foft and a- 
greeable ways of converting grace, and it propofes 
to us our fupreme good, and our eternal falvation ; 
and the motives with which it folicits us, are moft 
agreeable, if confidered abfolutely in themfelves; 
but it is alfo certain, that, if confidered in compari- 
son with the falfe pleafures, which we find in world- 
ly objects, and in relation to the ftate of him, who 
is attached to the world, the tendereft acts of grace 



( 126 ) 



do not appear tender to him, on the contrary, they 
are bitter and difguftful. Accefs to that eternal hap- 
pinefs, which grace fets before us, is attended with a 
thoufand forrows ; to obtain it we muft on the one 
fide renounce all, that depraved appetites love, and on 
the other, expofe ourfelves to all, that nature fears. 
The ways of grace are then pleafant to a man, when 
he refolves to obey the call : but at firft, by oppofing 
fin, it produces various difagreeable agitations of mind, 
which for a while attend the convert, and hence come 
all our refiftances. * 

* Grace produces various agitations of mind. This ftruggle in the 
human mind between truth and error, vice and virtue, {tiled by 
the apoftle, A law of the members warring againft that of the mind, 
has been abundantly ridiculed of late days, and the conqueft of 
truth and virtue by the aids of the holy Spirit, which Mr Claude 
calls irrefiftible grace, has been deemed little better than mad- 
Befs. Bat methinks, he cannot be a very rational, much lefs a 
very fpiritual man, who talks at this rate. To] pafs fpiritual 
things, the very heathens felt fomething of this kind, I mean, a 
propenfity to refift even the dictates of a natural unenlightened 
mind. Thus when Tully bids his friend fatisfy himielf about 
the immortality of his foul by reading Plato's Phcedo, he makes 
him reply, Truly, I have often done fo, but I know not how it 
happens, when I am reading I afient, when I have laid adde the 
Book, and have begun to reflect on the immortality cf the foul, 
my afTent ceafes. A. Nobody mail perfuade me but I am im^ 
mortal. M. I commend you for that; although you ought not to 
be too confident in any thing : for we are often moved by fome 
acute reafoning : we hefitate and alter our opinions even in 
matters of greateft moment, for in them there is fomething of 
obfcurity. 

The work of a chriftian preacher is not to foothe the pains 
of fin, fo as to keep the {inner quiet in his unregenerate it ate : 
but, on the contrary, to alarm him with a juft fenfe of his 
danger, and to direct him to his only place of fafety. The 
man of God is to preach the law — a fire muft go before him — he 
muft form a tempeft round about him — he muft call to the heavens 
from above, and to the earth, and judge the people— -He muft reprove 
the {inner, fet things in order before him, and cover him with 
fhame and confufion. Then to the trembling contrite foul he 
muft preach the gofpel, " peace, peace to him that/is near, and 
peace to him, that is far oft." When this method of preach- 



( 1« 1 

In this manner you muft enter into the explica* 
tion of difficulties, when the difficulty arifes either 
from a falfe fenfe, which may be given of your text, 
or from any obje&ion, which may arife againft the 
true meaning of it. Then, as I have faid, and as it 
appears by the example given, you muft firft pro- 
pose the difficulty, and then remove it ; and fo give a 
clear fenfe of the text. 

The fame method muft be taken, when texts are 
mifunderftood, and grofs and pernicious errors intro- 
duced. In men a cafe, firft reject the erroneous fenfe, 
and (if neceflary) even refute it, as well by reafons 
taken from the text, as by arguments from other 
topics, and at length eftablifh the true fenfe. 

Take for example, John xvi. 12. / have yet 
many things to fay unto you : but ye cannot bear them 
now. You muft begin by propofing and rejecting the 
falfe fenfes, which fome ancient heretics gave of thefe 
words. They faid, Jefus Chrift fpoke here of many 
rnwritten traditions , which he gave his difciples by 
word of mouth after his refurre&ion; * An argument 

ing was ufed, pleafures and pains attached people to religion 
and great moral good was produced. But now we read a 
dry moral lecture, we fear offending fcandalous livers, we laugh 
at religious feelings, and we fay we are wifer than our prede- 
cefTors! 

The great reformer fpeaks admirably on this fubjeft. 

* Some heretics fay, Chrift fpoke of unwritten traditions. 
This is faid to be the herefy of Montanus ; but perhaps not 
with fufficient evidence. — See Eufeb- eccl. hift. lib. v. cap. 16. 
—Some of the fathers held this herefy, if it be one: but not in 
the fenfe, in which the church of Rome holds it. She is pe- 
culiarly dexterous in debating from bad to worfe, all that pafTes 
through her hands. See Tertullian. de corona militis cap. iii. iv. 
See du Pin bibliot. torn. iii. J14. 

Beza ; after clearing Tertullian's meaning, judicioufly adds: 
W e cannot from any other books judge of the apoftles doc 
trine, than from the writings of the apoftles themfelves; and the 



{ 128 ) 



which the church of Rome has borrowed to colour 
her pretended traditions. After you have thus pro- 
pofed the falfe fenfe, and folidly refuted it, pafs on to 
eftablifh the true, and fhew what were the things^ 
which Jefus Chrift had yet to fay to his difciples, and 
which they could not then bear, 

I would advife the fame method for all difpnted 
texts. Hold it as a maxim, to begin to open the 
way to a truth, by rejecting a falfehood. Not that 
it can be always done; fometimes you mull begin 
by explaining the truth, and afterwards reje£t the 
error ; becaufe there are certain occafions, on which 
the hearers minds muft be pre-occupied, and be- 
caufe alfo, truth well propofed and fully eftablifh- 
ed, naturally deftroys error; but notwithftanding 
this, the moft approved method is to begin by 
rejecting error. After all, it muft be left to a man's 

prefent traditions of the Papifts are not apoftolical, &c. In vita 
Bezse, p. 216. 

By the word tradition the Roman church underftands doc- 
trines, precepts, and ceremonies. Thofe traditions, which are not 
contained in the holy fcriptures, are called unwritten. They 
call fome apoftolical, others ecclefiaftical, &c. On this ground 
they place infant-baptifm, the doctrine of ecclefiaftical orders, 
the worshipping of images, the keeping of Lent, &c. 

From this fort the reformers drove the catholics, and had 
they deftroyed it, they would have done infinite fervice to the 
caufe of religion: but alas ! it was tenable, they occupied it 
themfelves, and they laid a foundation for future theological 
wars, by declaring, « The church hath power to decree rites 
and ceremonies." In vain they added, " If the decrees be agree- 
able to fcripture f for only the legiflators judge of that. The 
right of legiflation in the church belongs to Jefus Chrift alone. 
The holy fcriptures are his code of laws. If this book be per- 
fect, and Sufficient, as all proteftants fay it is, there is no need 
of additions, and there is more fin in an ufurpation of the au- 
thority of the fon of God, than moft men imagine. Vide Thef. 
theol. Amyraid. de perfect, fcript. fee. nec nonejufd. de ecdefise 
capite. 



( 129 ) 



judgment when he ought to take thefe different 
courfes. *f 

There are texts of explication, in which the diffi- 
culty arifes neither from equivocal terms, nor from 
the different fenfes, in which they may be taken , 
nor from objections, which may be formed againft 
them, nor from the abufe which heretics have made 
of them; but from the intricacy of the fabjecl it/elf^ 
which may be difficult to comprehend, and may re- 
quire great ftudy and meditation. On inch texts 
you need not, you muft: not, amufe yourfelf in 
propofing difficulties, nor in making objections: but 

f A man's judgment muft difcern his proper courfe. True j 
for, without this difcermnent, no rules can direct. 

A learned Danifh profeflbr of divinity, writing on this article, 
directs his pupils to propofe fome preacher, who excels in the 
pulpit, as a model for them to imitate. 

Our profeflbr adds the following rules and cautions, in re- 
gard to imitation. I. Let not a young gentleman confine 
himfelf to one model: but let him endeavour to acquire the ex- 
cellencies of all. 

2 Let him diflinguifh and avoid the faults of the belt ex- 
amples. 

3. Let him avoid a fervile fuperftitious imitation of excel- 
lencies, for many things owe their propriety and beauty to cir- 
cumftances of time, place, perfons, &c. which in the abfence of 
thefe circumftances would be ridiculous. 

4. Let him not affecl: to imitate beyond his own geni- 
us. 

5. Let him cherifh a noble emulation, and propofe nothing lefs 
than to excel all his predeceflbrs. 

He adds alfo, from Erafmus, De concionandi ratione, Let him 
hear fometimes the word preachers. That what is proper and 
what improper may be more evident. 

After all rules and examples, then, a man mull be left in a 
thoufand inftances, to his own judgment, and the end of ex- 
amples and rules is to form the judgment; not to confine it, nor 
to render it unnecelTary, and ufelefs. 

This laft rule of Mr Claude's is moft beautifully exemplified 
in a fermon on Phil, iv 7. " The peace of God which paffeth ail 
underftanding;" by Monf. Dumont, one of the nobleft of the 
French preachers. Dumont fer. fur la paix, &c. 

R 



( iso ) 

you ffluft enter immediately into the explication of 
the matter, and take particular care to arrange your 
ideas well, that is to fay, in a natural and eafy order, 
beginning where you ought to begin; for if you do 
not begin right, you can do nothing to purpoie; and, 
on the contrary, if you take a right road, all will ap- 
pear eafy as you go on to the end. * 

* Some fubjecls are intricate of themfelves. Befidesthe ex- 
ternal aids of fciences (fays Monf. Du Pin) we ought alfo to 
call in that internal one of our reafon, in the difcovery of the 
fenfe of holy fcripture-; but then, great care muft be taken that 
we do not make an ill ufe of it, by maintaining, with the So* 
qiriians, that nothing ought to be admitted for true, but what is 
cornprehentible by our reafon, or adapted to our fenfes, fo that 
no other fenfe of holy Scripture can be true but that, which 
is agreeable to the natural light of the one, or the experience 
of the other . -Great care mould be taken that we do not ad- 
mit fo dangerous a principle. For this is a maxim; there are 
truths of fuch a nature as the mind of man is not capable of con- 
ceiving or comprehending j and forafmuch as his capacity is 
finite and limited, it is not only poffible, but even neceiTary there 
fhould be fuch. 

. As the authority from whence they (that is the myfteries of 
chriftianity) are derived is alone enough to make them be- 
lieved, fo ought great care to be taken to explain them as much 
as poflible in the fimplicity of faith, after the fame manner^ and 
in the fame terms in which they were delivered, &c. &c. Du 
Pin's Method of ftudying divinity, chap, iii p. 38. chap. ix. p. 163. 

Particularly they err in that, that they too highly exalt na- 
tural reafon, and extol it above revealed religion. For, (fays 
Tillotfon,) they teach that all reafonings about divine revelation 
mould of necellity originate from the principles of natural re- 
ligion • according to which, what God has revealed ought to be 
explained. 

<{ The fcriptures difcover matters of the greater! depth and 
myfterioufnefs. Such are the eternal purpofes and decrees of God, 
the incarnation of the Son of God, and manner of the operation of 
the fpirit of God upon the fouls of men." Ihefe, and all other 
doif rines of pure revelation, 2re myfterious : but the believing of 
them is not irrational. Where the truth of a doctrine depends 
not on evidence, but authority, the only way to prove the truth 
cf the doctrine is to prove the teftimony of the revealer to be 



C 131 ) 



If, for example* I were to preach from this text, 
The law was given by Mofes ; but grace and truth 
came by Jefus Chrlft ; I would divide this text into 
two parts. The firft mould regard the miniftry of 
the law ; the fecond, that of the gofpel ; the one ex- 
prefled in thefe words, The law was given by Mo- 
fes ; the other in thefe, Grace and truth came by Je- 
fus Chrif, I fhould fubdivide the firft into two parts, 
the law, and its author Mofes. 

I would then enter into the matter by faying, 
that I could not give a more juft idea of the law 
than by placing it in oppofition to grace and truth, 
Jo that to confider it well, we muft obferve it in two 
refpe&s ; as a miniftry of rigour oppofed to grace ; 
and as a miniftry of Jhadows and imperfections op- 
pofed to truth. 

To explain the law as a miniftry of rigour, I 
would obferve, that, in the defign of God in fending 
his fon into the world, and in bringing men to fal- 
vation, it was neceftary, before he began the work, 
to prepare the way, and to remove thofe obftacles, 
which, had they not been removed, would have 
fr unrated his defign. One of thefe obftacles was 
man's ignorance of himfelf and God. He was ig- 
norant of himfelf : for he was a fmner immerfed in 
crimes, an obje£t of the eternal vengeance of the crea- 
tor, defervmg to be plunged into hell, a Have of un- 
righteoufnefs, of himfelf incapable of the leaft de- 
gree of holinefs, and yet more fo of delivering him- 
felf from the curfe, under which he was, and 6f en- 
tering into communion with God. Yet, ignorant of 

R 2 

infallible. " See Stillingjfeets 1 Origines facrx, b. ill. chap- vi.— and 
particularly that ineilimable viiith chapter of the fecond book;, 
entitled General hypothefu, &c. 



( ) 



his ftate, he believed himfelf worthy of the love of 
God, capable of acquitting himfelf well of his duty, 
and of anfwering the whole end of his creation, en- 
joying himfelf with as much pride, quietnefs, and 
haughtinefs, as if he had been the happieft of all 
creatures. * 

On the other hand, man had indeed fome con- 
fufed ideas of the divinity, and before the coming of 
Chrift, he could not but fee in the works of nature, 
the providence, the juftice, and the majefty of God: 
but all thefe ideas were entombed in an almoft in- 
finite number of errors, and all became ufelefs by the 
infinite diffipations, which worldly objects caufed, by 
the natural blindnefs of his mind, and hardnefs of 
his heart. In one word, he flept a double fleep, e- 
qually ignorant of his mifery and his duty. The 
fword of divine juftice was upon him : but he did 
not feel it ; and although the condition of his nature, 
and his dependence upon God, bound him to al- 
moft infinite obligations, yet he did not perceive 
them, "j 1 * 

* " Men, before the coming of Chrift, were ignorant of their 
{late, and enjoyed themfelves with pride and haughtinefs. 

f Men, before the advent of Chrjfl, had confujed Ideas of God. We 
need only rtad Tully's book of the nature of the gods, to be con- 
vinced of this. Epicurus and Anaximenes, with their followers, 
acknowledged no other fir ft caufe than inanimate matter. A- 
ftoni filing abfurdity ! who ever thought that a picture was a 
fortuitous concourfeof colours? Yet,philofophic fages have been 
ftupid enough to imagine, that the originals of thefe pictures 
came together fo. Thales, Pythagoras, the Stoics, and others 
of great name, believed an intelligent caufe : but this intelli- 
gence, they thought, was a part of matter, fire, or sether, or 
water, or in fliort, they knew not what. Plato went farther, 
Cicero farther ftill, but none of them all fo far as a child in the 
firft page of his catechifm with us. 0 fortunatos nimium fit a ft 
bona notmt I 



( 133 ) 



It was therefore needful, before Chrlft came into 
the world, to awaken man from his double fecurity. 
He muft be made to feel the greatnefs of his fins, the 
curfe, that he had drawn on himfelf, the horror of 
hell, which he deferred, the excellent glory, that he 
had loft, and the creator's indignation, to which he 
was expofed. It was needful to difcover to him his 
inability to raife himfelf from that profound abyfs, 
into which he was fallen, to make him fee, in all 
their extent, the rights of God, what mankind were 
obliged to render to him, and how far they were from 
an ability to do it. It was needful, in one word, to 
mortify their vanity, to abafe their pride, and to con- 
dud: them all trembling, confounded, and afraid, to 
the foot of God's tribunal, in order that they might 
receive with joy the declaration of his mercy. * 

La&antius rightly fays, " The wifeft Greeks knew not God/ 
Well, therefore, might a modern writer fay, We here dif- 
cern the weaknefs of human reafon, and the vain efforts, that it 
makes alone to raife itfelf up to the exact knowledge of a God, 
truly hidden, 'who dwells in inaccefible light. AVhat progrefs in this 
refpecl: has this proud reafon been capable of making, during a- 
bove forty ages, in the beft heads of Greece, in the mod illuft- 
rious of the Pagans for their learning, and the chiefs of their 
moft famous fchools ? Rollin. 

See Tertulliaji 's apology, chap, x, xi, 

* It is needful to male man feel the greatnefs of his fns. Monf. 
Claude's fentiments concerning the ufe cf the law perfectly agree 
with S. Paul's, Rom. v. 20. « The law entered that the offence 
might abound," not that we might be faved by obedience to it : 
" For if righteoufnefs comes by the law (moral or ceremonial) 
Chrift is dead in vain." Thus our firft reformers underftood the 
apoftle. In our firft Englifh bibles, which were tranflated by 
Mr Tyndal, amfted by Miles Goverdale, and John Rogers, the 
proto-martyr, reviewed by Cranmer, and commonly called 
Matthew's bible, we have a very fenfible prologue to the epiftle 
to the Romans, which runs thus : 

For as moch as this epiftle is the pryncipall and moft excellent 
part of the newe teftament and moft pure evangelion, that is to 
faye> glad tidings, and that we call golpel, and alfo a lighte and 



( *34 ) 



THs was t ^ ie en£ 3) which God propofed in the mi 
niftry of the law, and for this purpofe, i. He mani- 

ti waye in, unto the whole fcripture. I thinke it mete that euery 
chriflen man not only know it by rote and without the booke : 
but alfo exercife his (elf therein euermore continually as with 
the dayly breade of the foul. No rean,verely can rede it to 
ofte or ftudy it to wel For the more it is ftudyed the eafier it is, 
—Fir ft, we muft marke diligently the manner of fpeakinge of 
the apoftel, and aboue all things knowe what Paule meaneth by 
thefe wordes, the lawe, fynne, grace, fayth, righteoufnefs, flefh, 
fpirite : and foche lyke., or els rede thou it neuer fo ofte, thou 
fhak but lofe thy labour. This worde lawe maye not bee under- 
ftand heere after mans wayes which teacheth what ought to be 
done, and what ought not ^o be done, as it goeth with mannes 
lawe, where the law ys fulfilled with outward workes only, 
though the hert be neuer fo farre off, But God judgeth the 
grounde of the hert, ye and the fecret mouinges of the minde, 
and therefore his lawe requireth the grounde of the herte and 
loue from the bottome there of, and is not content with the out- 
warde worcke only, but rebuketh thofe worckes moft of al which 
fprynge not of loue from the grounde and lowe botome of the 
herte, though they appear outward neuer fo honeft and good. 
■ — He compareth Adam and Chrifte together thus wyfe, reafon- 
ynge and dyfputynge, that Chrifte muft needes come as a fe- 
cond Adam to make us heyres of his rightewefnefs thorowe a 
newe fpyritual byrthe without our deferuings euen as the fyrft 
Adam made us heyres of fynne thorow the bodely generacyon 
without our deferuing —And that is proued therewyth, for as 
moche as the uery lawe of God whiche of ryghte fhoulde haue 
holpe, if any thynge coulde haue holpen, not only came and 
broughteno helpe wyth hyr, but alfo increa/ed fynne. Becaufe that 
the euei and poyfoned nature is offended and utterly difpleafed 
wyth the lawe, and the more (he is forbyd by the /awe, the more 
me is prouoked and fet on fyre to fulfyl and fatisfy hyr luftes. 
By the lawe then we fe clearly that we muft nedes haue Chryft: 
to juftify us wyth his grace and to helpe nature. — Now go to 
reader, and accordynge to the order of Paules writinge euen fo 
do thou. Fyrft, behold thi felfe dyligentlye in the lawe of God 
and fe there thy juft dampnation, Secondarelye, turne thyne 
eyes to Chryft, and fee there the exceadinge mercy of the moil 
kinde and louing father. Thyrdly, remember that Chryft: made 
not thys atonement that thou fhouldeli; anger God again, nei- 
ther dyed he for thy fynnes, that thou moulded Hue ftill in 
them, neither cleanfe'd he thee, that thou fhouldeft: returne, as a 
fwine, unto thyne old podel agayne, but that thou fhouldeft bf 



( 135 ) 



felled himfelf from the higheft heavens in all the 
magnificence of infinite niajefty, to which all that 
pompous train belongs, which accompanied the pub- 
lication of the law, and furrounded mount Sinai with 
thunderings and lightenings. 

2. He declared all his rights over the creatures, 
and the duty, which a creature naturally owes him, 
by that admirable moral law, the words of which he 
caufed them to hear from the midft of flaming fire, 
and which at length he wrote with his immortal fin- 
ger on tables of ftone. 

,3. He fhewed moft clearly and intelligibly, what a 
juft and innocent creature might naturally hope for 
from him ; and on the contrary, what a finner had 
to fear. Do this (faid he) and thou Jhalt live; and 
on the other hand, Curfed is every one^ who continue 
eth not in all things written in the law to do them. 

a newe creature, and Hue a new life, after the wyll of God, and 
not of the fleftie. Edit. 1549. 

This was thedo&rine of all the reformed churches at that time, 

They thought, the law was of perpetual ufe to chriftians. 

The law, however, is fometimes enthufiaftically explained, and 
made to fpeak more than in reafon it ought. This is a common 
fault in our devotional books. God forbid we fhould extenuate 
our guilt : but is it not poSible to avoid one extreme without 
falling into another ? 

The following example from a Spanifh Jefuit will help to ex- 
plain my meaning. Having laid it down as a rule, that the heart 
is to be examined and convi£led by the law, and having miftaken 
the meaning of S. James, who fays, He, who ojfendeth in one point 
is guilty of ally he goes to work with his heart, and declares, he 
is " Guilty of idolatry, infidelity, hatred, adultery, theft, infamy 
and homicide." <g And, therefore, adds he, reprehending my- 
ielf, 1 may call myfelf by thefe infamous names, faying, " Ido- 
later, infidel, adulterer, thief, hypocrite, and homicide " &c. 
Certainly, father, you may abufe yourfelf as much as you pleafe ; 
but were what you affirm of yourfelf true, your reverence ought 
to be hanged ; and if not true, who dare follow your example^ 
and ftigmatize you with thofe unju ft and odious names! Pueniis. 
meditation^ torn, i.p, med, 25, 



< 136 ) 



4. Moreover, as all this tended to difcover to man 
his fin, God was pleafed to declare to him the necef- 
fity cf fatisfaction, without which he might not hope 
for mercy. This declaration he made by ordaining 
a great number of propitiatory facrifices, the ufe of 
which he fettled among them; for all the parts of the 
ceremonial law were fo many public informations, 
that divine juftice muft be fatisiied, before mankind 
could hope for mercy. * 

* " The ordaining of facrifices informed the Jews, that divine 
juftice muft be fatisned." 

The Jewifh church always held the doctrine of a vicarious ex- 
piation of fin, and the author of the epiftle to the Hebrews does 
not attempt to deltroy this doctrine : but, on the contrary, he 
endeavours to explain, and to confirm it, and to vindicate to Chrift 
that glory of expiating the fins of mankind, which the ancient 
Jews attributed to legal facrifices, and which the modern Jews 
ftill expect to derive from them. 

Our author treats of this fubject at large elfewhere, and af- 
firms, that it is effential to the juftice of God, and fit and necef- 
fary in the nature of things, that fin fhould bepunifhed : but that 
the mode of punifhing it, whether in the perfon of the finner, 
or in the perfon of a furety, who reprefents him, is entirely arbi- 
trary, and the judge of the world may do either without injury 
to his perfections. He lays down eight conditions necefTary to 
a lawful rational transfer of punifhrnent from the finner to his 
furety. 

it Sin muft be punifhed. 

2. The fupreme governor muft will and ordain the transfer. 

3. He, to whom the transfer is made, muft give his free con- 
fent. 

4. He, the furety, muft have an abfolute power to difpofe of 
himfelf. 

5. He muft be innocent of the fin to be punifhed, and of all 
other fin. 

6. Thofe Gnners, for whom impunity is obtained, muft con- 
fent. 

7. God muft be more glorified by the futFerings of the fubfti- 
tute, than he would be if he punifhed the principals. 

8. Society muft receive no damage : but on the contrary, muft 
reap advantages. 

Each of thefe Mr Claude explains and proves, and then fhews, 
that they are all found in the perfon of jefus Chrift. Qiuvres 
gofthumeS) torn. iii. Iiv. iv. cb* 12. 



( 137 ) 

5. To mew yet farther the fovereign dignity, and 
infinite glory of God above the creature, and to abafe 
man in his prefence, and reduce him as it were to dun: 
and afhes, he loaded the Ifraelites, to whom all the 
ceconomy belonged, with a yoke of ceremonies, heap- 
ing them one upon another, and ordaining the cbfer- 
vation of all under the fame penalty of a curfe, which 
had accompanied the publication of the moral law. 

Finally, becaufe all this exterior revelation would 
have been ufelefs on account of the natural blind-* 
nefs of all mankind, God accompanied the lav/ 
with a degree of his Spirit, or of that inward light, 
which, by illuminating the eyes of the underftand- 
ing, produces not any true regeneration, nor any 
real confolation, but only opens a man's eyes to fee 
the greatnefs of his fin and mifery, difcovering thofe 
fad objects, and exciting thofe painful agitations, 
which St Paul defcribes in the viith of the Romans, 
which terminates in this exclamation, 0 wretched 

The doctrine of vicarious fufferings feems to be confiderable 
in four points of view. I. It may be examined rationally. Is 
the idea incongruous with the known perfections of God, the , 
nature and condition of rational accountable creatures ? This 
article Mr Claude difcuffes. 2. It may be confidered hiftori- 
cally, in this light the learned Outram connders it, and adduces 
a variety of teftimories, which prove, that chriftians, Jews, 
and heathens, (differing entirely in religion and manners) were 
agreed in believing the reality of vicarious punifhments for fin. 
De facrif. lib, i. cap. 22. 

3. It may be confidered fcripturally. Does revelation men« 
tion this doctrine ? does it condemn it ? does it allow it ? on 
what object does the punifhment fall? In this light alio the 
laft mentioned writer connders it, and critically examines all 
thofe paffages of holy fcripture, which are ufually brought to 
prove it. Id. lib. ii. cap. 5, 6. 

4. It may be confidered morally. What moral ends are an- 
fwered by it ? are individuals relieved ? is fociety improved? is 
the divine legiflation honoured? &c- In this view all our divines 
confider it. 

s 



( 138 ) 

man that I ami who Jhall deliver me from the body 
of this death? * 

After you have thus explained the law, as it is a 
miniftry of rigour , in oppofkion to grace, you muft 
proceed to confider it in the other view, as oppofed 
to truth. 

You may obferve in the firft place, that the term 
truth is in the holy fcripture put in oppofition to 
promife: inafmuch as truth is the accomplifhment 
and execution. God, to foften the great rigour of 

* St Paul defcribes thofe agitations of mind, which are pro- 
duced by objects difcovered by the fpirit in the law, Roin. vii. 
Some think, that the viith of Romans is the language of a Jew, 
who knew the fpirituality, of the law, but was ignorant of Chrift 
the redeemer. According to them, it is a defcription of the 
emotions of the mind after conviction, and before con- 
verfion. There is a great deal of probability in this opi- 
nion. 

In the fiefh (verfe 5.) is a phrafe applied to the Jews; who 
obferved only the letter of the law : but this could not be faid 
of all the Jews, for fome of them knew the law (verfe 1.) and 
were in the Spirit, that is to fay, they underftood the fpiritual 
fenfe of the law, not the literal or grammatical only; they regard- 
ed the mind or fpirit of the lawgiver more than his words. See 
Le Clerc s fupplem. to Hammond. 

The following is a juft diftin&ion, I think. For thepurpofe 
of the old law was to (hew what we ought to do: but it did 
not give power to perform it. But the new law gives grace 
and ftrength to do what we know muft be done by the written 
law. Eft'ii annotat. inloc d'ifficiL Jer. xliii. 2. 

It muft not be forgotten, that fome of our divines attribute 
thefe convictions of fin to the operations of the holy Spirit, and 
call them the common workings of the holy Ghoft, thereby di- 
ftinguifhing them from other operations 3 which they name, fpe- 
cial, peculiar, faving influences. Others pofitively deny this 
diftindtion, and call the firft, the workings of natural con- 
fcience. 

In this difputed point, a young minifter may avail himfelf of 
of the fa£t, which both fides allew, and leave the fettling of its 
name to older and wifer men. The law, by fome means, all 
allow, produces convictions of fin. A wife minifter knows the 
life of this remark. 



( 139 ) 



the law, which of itfelf could only produce defpair 
in the fouls of the Ifraelites, and render their con- 
dition more miferable than that of other people^ 
mixed in that oeconomy a revelation of mercy; 
and the firft difcoveries of this mercy are in the pro- 
mifes and prophecies, which God gave them touch- 
ing the Meffiah. Immediately after the fall he faid, 
/ will put enmity betwixt the woman and the fer- 
pent, her feed Jhall bruife the ferpents head, and the 
ferpent his heeL He reprefented it more fully to A- 
braham in the covenant made with him, and after- 
ward reminded them in Jacob's bleffing, that the 
fceptre Jhoidd not depart from Judah, nor a lawgi- 
ver from between his feet until Shiloh came, and un- 
to him fhould the gathering of the people be. * And 
Mofes himfelf filled them with hopes in thefe admi- 
mirable words. A prophet fhall the Lord your God 
raife up unto you from among your brethren, him floall 
ye hear. 

2. Truth is alfo taken in fcripture for fubflance, in 
oppofition to figures and fhadows: and here it means 
that of which God had given a model in the Jewifh 
difpenfation. His divine wifdom placed in full view 
a thoufand beautiful images of what he intended to 
do for the redemption of men. Here you may obferve 

* The fceptre fhall not depart. Would it not be better, to 
fubftitute the word ftaff or ruler inftead of fceptre, unlefs we 
reftrain the meaning of fceptre to a rod or ftaff of a tribe, which 
is all that is here intended? The ftaff or ruler fhall not depart 
from Judah. The tribefhip mall not depart from Judah. 
Such authority as Judah had then, was to remain with his po- 
fterity. It is not faid or meant, that he fhould not ceafe from be- 
ing a king, or having a kingdom, for he was then no king, and 
had no kingdom ; but only that he mould not ceafe from being 
a tribe or body politic, having rulers and governors of his own, 
till a certain period here foretold. Newton on the prophecies. voL 
>•<¥"• 4- 



( HO > 



the principal figures under the Law, and {hew the ufe 
of them, for they were intended to maintain the hope, 
and fupport the fouls of the Ifraelites till the Meffiah 
came, before whofe coming eternal falvation was 
declared to them.* 

* Eternal falvation was declared to the people of Ifrael. The 
prefent times have hardly produced a more afurd and danger- 
ous error than that of Bifhop Warburton, in what he calls a 
Divine legation of Mofes. He affirms, " The doclrine of a future 
fiate of rewards and punifhments is "not to be found in, nor 
did make part of the Mofaic difpenfation." It is certain, Jefus 
Chrift found the doclrine of a future ftate in what God in the bum. 
faid to Mofes Mark xii. 26. And it is alfo certain, the Jews in 
general thought the doclrine of a future ftate was contained 
in their facred writings: Search the Scriptures, for in them ye 
think ye have eternal life, John v. 39. There was, indeed, a 
feci: of Sadducees among the Jews, who believed no future 
ftate, and the high prieft, who perfecuted the apoftles, was pro- 
bably of this feci, Acts v. 1 7. Several able writers have {hewn 
what great reafon all fober chriliians have to be offended with 
this doctrine; to be very jealous of the man's defign in advancing 
it-, and to guard in time again ft the mifchiefs it may do. Chri- 
llians, I think, may quiet their fears ; for people who do not 
believe themfelves. feldom fucceed in attempting to perfuade 0- 
thers. What can one think of the confcience of a man, who, 
both before and after the publication of this doclrine, fubfcri- 
bed upon oath this contrary proportion. In the old teftament 
everiaftmg life is offered to mankind by Chrift? Articles of 
religion, art. 7. 

" If men may dilbelieve (fays a writer againft this bifhop) 
the articles and homilies, and yet fubfcribe to them,— and after 
that fubfcription wrire direclly againft thofe very doctrines, to 
which they have fubfcribed— and if they fhould be encouraged 
and countenanced by numbers, who alfo have fubfcribed to them 
— and if that very church; which requires this fubfcription, 
fhould not cenfure fuch a manifeft breach of her laws, which 
{he maintains are founded upon the laws of God; [and if (he 
(he fhould dignify and reward fuch offenders,] this would be 
a moil melancholy ftate of religion, and from fuch perfons, and 
fuch proceedings, will all chriftians pray, Good Lord deliver us!" 
Mr RomameV fermon before the Univerfity of Oxford, March 
4, 1 739* divine legation of Mofes demon ihated. 

An excellent foreign divine has well obferved that the patri- 
archal religion included the doclrine of a future ftate, Heb. xi- 



( HI J 



You may add, 3dly, That the term truth is taken 
alio for perfection, in oppofition to the beginnings 
and feeds of the gofpel in a degree fufHcient for the 

io. 13. — Thai the Mofalc (economy included the patriarchal re. 
ligion That Mofes himfelf forfook Egypt with a view to a fu- 
ture recompence, Heb, xi. 26. — That the apoftles preached on- 
ly what was " written in the law and the prophets," and was 
believed by the bulk of the Jewifh people, Acts xxiv. 14, 15. — 
That the promiie of the Meffiah alone included all fpiritual blef- 
fmgs, and that the Israelites tmderjiood it fo. 

An ancient writer, therefore, well obferves, on Mat. via. 1 1 . 
that God made the old teflament faints fellow-heirs with the 
new teftament believers and that it is fenfelefs and wicked to 
fet the two difpenfations at variance. 

<( Jefus Chrift, far fuperior to all human glory, was known 
and celebrated long before he came into the world. His mag- 
nificence is of all ages. The foundations of his religion were 
laid with thofe of the world : and though he was not born till 
four thoufand years after the creation, yet his hiftory begins 
with that of the world. — He was firft preached in paradife, the 
fubject was continued down to Mofes, and revealed ftill more 
frequently and more clearly during the reign of the law and the 
prophets. — In one word, I intend to prove, that for four thoufand 
years Jefus was the object of the promifes of heaven, and the 
defires of the earth ; that he was figured by righteous men, and 
by the worfhip of the ancient lav/ , that he was proclaimed by a 
long train of prophets, and his way prepared by the whole chain 
of political events. Behold, my brethren, before his birth, the 
titles of his grandeur. Jefus, above all Jefus crucified, throws 
the brighten: light upon the old teftament. Without him what 
can we comprehend in the multitude of ceremonies and facri- 
fices of the law ? What images without him do the lives of the 
patriarchs offer ? What can we find in prophecies but impene- 
trable enigmas and grofs contradictions ? The law would be a 
fealed book ; and Judaifm a confufed heap of precepts and cere- 
monies, piled up without meaning. On the contrary, how 
beautiful is the hiftory of the people of God and all their wor- 
fhip, when the crofs is the key ! what order ! what defign ! what 
plan ! what an admirable ceeonomy ! It is one whole, the dif- 
ferent parts of which relate to the fame end. It is an edifice* 
which God himfelf founded, and infenfibly raifed with a de- 
fign of placing upon the top the crofs of his fon. It is a long 
allegory which divine wifdom contrived and conducted during 
many ages, and of which at length the crofs has given the true 
ienfe. : ' Serm. par /' Abbe Tome, torn* ii. pour le jour de /' announc.% 



( 142 } 



falvation of the people of IfraeL The mercy of God 
was manifested to them not only for ages to come, 
but for themfelves in particular ; for they were cal- 
led, the remiffion of their fins was*promifed, their 
eternal faivation declared, the Meffiah propofed not 
only to their fpeculation, but alfo to their faith ; the 
fpirit of adoption, confolation, and perfeverance, was 
communicated to them; Yet, if all this be compared 
with the New Teitament difpenfation, you will find 
only beginnings and foretaftes, in comparifon with 
that admirable plenitude, which we have received by 
Jefus Chrift. * 

4, You may fubjoin, that whatever advantages the 
Ifraelites had, or whatever degree of grace was diffufed 
in the mofaic miniftry, all together, however, it is 
called law : the reafon is, that the denomination of 
an ceconomy muft be taken from the predominant 
part of it. Now, it is certain, in that difpenfation 
juftice prevailed above mercy, the meafure of the fpi- 
rit of bondage exceeding that of the fpirit of adop- 
tion, for which reafon S. John makes no difficulty of 
including all under the name of law, The law, fays 
lie, came by Mofcs. * 

* Skiangar ehZn o nomos ton mellonton agathon ouh auten tene'ikona 
A learned German divine very properly obferves on this paf- 

fage, that the word fiadow (which is fometimes put literally for 
antf thing, that intercepts the light } and fometimes figuratively 
for any thing that protects a perfon from danger, as made co- 
vers from the heat of t he fun.) is to be taken here in that fenfe, 
in which artifts ufed it, that is, for a rough iketch of feme beau- 
tiful work to be filled up and coloured by and by. 

* " Under the old teftament difpenfation the meafure of the 
fpirit of bondage exceeded that of the fpirit of adoption." It is 
an excellent remark of another learned foreigner, that the Mo- 
faic ceconomy laid more reftraint on liberty of confidence^ and free- 
dom of thought than that of the Patriarchs did. " The Patri- 
archs, he lays, had authority over their families in civil affairs : 
but in matters of religion they were guided by revelation^ and by 



{ ) 



Having thus explained what the law is, go on to 
its author, Mofes. And firft fet afide in a few words 
the falfe erroneous fenfe which may be given of thefe 
words, that Moles was the firft and principal author 
of the law. You may obferve, that S. John did not 
intend to take from the law the glory of its divinity. 
God was the firft and principal author of it, as is e- 
vident: Becaufe the law was a fulfilment of what 
God promifed to Abraham in the covenant made 
with him : Becaufe in all that (Economy, there was 
too great wifdom to be the work of man: And, in 
fine, becaufe it was attended with fo many miracles, 
and with fo much happy fuccefs. In all this, it is im- 
poffiWe not to acknowledge the finger of God, In 
this difpenfation, then, Mofes was only the difpenfer, 
the fervant of God. * 

that fenfe of it, which the whole fociety, or the greater part of it 
entertained. The people of God were not then fubjected to 
facerdotal power, as they were afterwards under the Mofaic dif- 
penfation. 

* (c God was the author of the law." The Pentateuch is the 
root of the Chriftian tree, and it is remarkable, that while little 
geniuiTes have bufied themfelves in nibbling the branches, all the 
mailers in infidelity have, Come on this fide, fome on that, fetched 
a blow at the root. Among thefe venerable names are enrolled 
Aben Ezra, that famous Rabbi among the Jews *, Spinofa ; 
Hobbes ; Fa:her Simon ; Wolfton ; Collins ; Tindal ; Shaftf- 
bury; Bolingbroke, &c. but, we m2y fay of all, as Monf. Du 
Pin fays of fome of them, <c they endeavour to prove their ailer- 
tions by conjectures that have no folidity in them ; for (adds he) 
granting all they fay to be true, it will only follow, that it has 
happened to Mofes's book as to the writings of almoft all other 
ancient authors, that is to fay, there have been added and changed 
fome words, fome names, fome terms, to render the narration 
more intelligible to fuch as lived in ages fince. There are ex- 
amples of fuch changes in Homer, Herodotus, and almoft ail an- 
cient hiftorians, yet nobody rejects their books for this. — What 
can be more ram than to deny a fact eltabiifhed by formal paf- 
fages of Holy Scripture, by the authority of Jefus Chriit, by the 



( 144 ) 



The true fenfe of S. John's words being thus efta- 
bliflied, you muft enquire wherein the minijlry of 

Confent of all nations, and by the authentic teftimonies of the 
moft ancient writers? What can be more dangerous than to 
doubt the antiquity, and confequently ruin the authority of 
books upon which our religion is as it were founded r" &c. &c. 
DuPm Bibliot. Ecckfiajt. torn i. Dijftrt. Prelim. feB. I. 

The Abbe Torne, in a fermon preached before the late French 
king in Lent, 1764, endeavours to confound infidelity on this 
head by proving, 1. That Mofes really exifted. 2. That he was 
the author of the Pentateuch And, 3. That thefe books of 
Mofes contain nothing but truth. On the firft article he fays, 
u Yes, the exigence of Mofes is a facl:, which cannot be ferioufly 
difputed. Every people, not originally of the land they inhabit, 
fuppofes an emigration. Every emigration of an immenfe colo- 
ny fuppofes a leader. Every government founded upon a body 
of laws fuppofes an ancient legiflator. And every religion fup~ 
pofes fome extraordinary founder. It cannot be denied, that the 
Hebrews were tranfplantecl from their ancient country into Ju- 
dea 5 that they had then a leader at their head ; that their new 
eftablifhment in Judea was the work of time and labour, wars 
and victories, or even of prodigies, &c. — The legiflator of the 
Jews was the author of the Pentateuch ; an immortal work, 
wherein he paints the marvels of his reign, with the majeftic 
picture of the government and religion which he eftablifhed I 
Who before our modern infidels ever ventured to obfcure this in- 
conteftible fa£l ? Who ever fprang a doubt about this among 
the Hebrews ? — 'What greater reafons have there ever been to 
attribute to Mohammed his Alcoran, to Plato his republic, or to 
Homer his fublime poems ? Rather let us fay : What work in 
any age ever appeared more truly to bear the name of its real au- 
thor ? It is not an ordinary book which, like many others, may 
be eafily hazarded under a fic"t itious name. It is a facred book, 
which the Jews have always read with a veneration, that remains 
after feventeen hundred years exile, calamities, and reproach. 
In this book the Hebrews included all their fcience : it was their 
civil, political, and facred code, their only treafure, their calendar, 
their annals, the only title of their fovereigns and Pontiffs, the 
alone rule of their polity and worfhip : by confequence it muft 
be formed with their monarchy, and neceffarily have the fame 
epoch as their government and religion, &c — Mofes fpeaks only 
truth, though infidels charge him with impofture. But, Great 
God ! what an importer muft he be, who firft fpoke of the di- 
vinity in a manner fo fublime, that no one flnce, during almoft 
four thou fand years, has been able to furpafs him ! What an im- 



( 145 ) 

Mofes conjijled) and make it appear, that he was not 
a true Mediator, who by his merit or dignity inclined 
God to be reconciled to man. For, as men were 
finners, he, who had power to reconcile God to men, 
muft fuffer for fin, and offer to the Divinity a fuffi- 
cient propitiation : but this Mofes could not do, be- 
ing only a fimple creature ; a fimple creature ! n ay, 
he was a fmner, and had need of a propitiation him- 
felf, fo far was he from being able to give one for a- 
nother ; we muft not therefore attribute that glory to 
him. Entirely to prevent fuch a thought, divine 
wifdom has related three remarkable things in Mofes's 
hiftory. I. The fins and failings of Mofes. 2. 
That the priefthood was affigned to Aaron his bro- 
ther, and not to him. And, 3. That not he, but 
Jofhua, had the honour of leading the Ifraelites into 
the land of Canaan. Moreover, to be the real medi- 
ator of a covenant between God and men, it w 7 ould 
have been neceffary for him to have been mafter of 
the hearts of men, that he might anfwer to God for 
their obedience to his commands^ and perfeverance in 
his love. Mofes could not do this. He fpoke to the 
ear, he exhorted, cenfured* promifed, threatened, he 
did all, that a mere creature could do : but he could 
not abfolutely govern their hearts and minds, nor bend 
and turn them as he would ; God only was capable 
of a dominion fo great. 

In what then did the miniftry of Mofes confift ? I 
anfwer, in three great advantages. 1. He was a mu- 
tual interpreter between God and the people. He 
afcended the mountain to prefent to God the people's 

poftor muft he be, whofe writings breathe only virtue ; whofe 
ftile, equally fimple, affe&ing, and fublime, in fpite of the rude- 
nefs of thofe firft ages, openly difplays an infpiration altogether 
ftivine, &c. Serm, ds T(^rne ) torn, m.pcurk 5. dimancke de Carenu* 

T 



c m ) 



promifes of obedience, and their engagements to hfa 
fervice; and, when God had given him his orders, 
he came down to fpeak on the Lord's part to the 
people, to declare his ordinances, to make them un- 
derftand his laws, and to colled:, in the name of God, 
the folemn aniens, by which the people confented to 
the bleffings, and to the curfes : thus he was recipro- 
cally the interpreter of God to the Ifraelites and of 
the Ifraelites to God. What the people laid, when 
they faw the majefty of God upon the mountain, and 
when trembling they cried, Let not the Lord fpeak 
to us, but fpeak thou with us and we will hear, Exod. 
xx. 19. implies the office, of which I fpeak. 

The fecond advantage of the miniftry of Mofea 
was this ; it was accompanied with the fupreme and 
infinite power of God, who, according to his promife, 
when he called him, wrought miracles by him : / 
will Jlretch out my hand a?id fmite Egypt with all my 
wonders, and thou fhalt take this rod in thine hand, 
wherewith thou foalt do figns* Indeed the miracles, 
that God wrought by the miniftry of his fervant, 
were very great ; he turned the waters into blood, 
&c. 

The infpiration of Mofes was his third advantage. 
Having delivered the Ifraelites from bondage ; having 
feparated them from all other people ; having aflb- 
ciated them in one body ; having eftablifhed a cove- 
nant between God and them : having prepared in the 
midft of them an ordinary fervice and fettled religion; 
God chofe him to write the whole hiftory, and filled 
him with the holy Spirit, to enable him to perform a 
work fo important. * It was he who firft began ta 

* Mofes wrote by itifpiratiott. Irenaeus taxes the Marcionites 
and others, with reprobating the Old T eft ament and Epipha- 
iiius. charges the JMaoichssajis with the crime of afcribing it to 



( w ) 

^ompofe that admirable book called the Scripture * 
which is the church's eternal rule the founda- 
tion of our confolation, inftruclion, and hope. 

fome evil being: but, if there be a book in the world, that can 
authenticate itfelf by internal evidence, as well as by exterior ar 
guments' it is the Old Teflament ; and, of the Pantateuch in 
particular, it may be affirmed, that it carries along with it the 
higheft demonltration of its divinity. 

f Mofes began to compofe the Holy Scriptures, Some divines 
have thought, that there were infpired writings before the 
time of Mofes, and that they, and fome of the writin g S of Mofes 
alfo, are loft. 

Thefe conje&ures are void of all foundation. Our beft divines 
affirm, than none of the cononical books of the Old Teftament 
are loft. I mould be afraid to reft the evidence of this propofi 
tion, however, on what fome of our divines plead, that is the 
accuracy of the ancient Maforites in numbering the lines and the 
letters of the holy canon. Arias Montanus, Buxtorf, and other- 
extol the maforeucai enumeration very highly; and in confe* 
quence of an opinion of the infallibility of it, fome give us the 
number of verfes and of letters in each facred book. 

Generis, fays one, has 1534 verfes, 4395 letters.' 

Verfes. 

Lxodus - - - . 1209 
Leviticus - grp 
Numbers 1288 
Deuteronomy - - - q r - 

. J a * her Sim °n, who " would not have the Mafora wholly re- 
jected, becaufe it was the labour of the doctors of a moft famous 
academy, who were ikilful in the language, and verfed in the 
manufcnpts, yet obferves, that there is a great variation in the 
-numbers, and therefore the Maforetic ie&ion is not to be ef- 
teemed decifive, nor are all other exemplars of the Bible to be 
corrected and reformed after the emendations of the Maforites.' 8 
Simon's Critical Enquiries > chap iii. iv. v. 

j S f al . m J ^ IUS has g iven feveral examples of what he calls a won- 
dertul difagreement in old Books. The Epiftle of Paul to Phile- 
mon m our Editions contains 25 Verfes. Jn ancient Copies there 
are 37, and in one old Latin edition there are <ro. SalmaL Pro- 
legom. in So/in. J J 

The evidence, therefore, muft be fought elfewhere. The fol- 
lowing arguments feem to fome fuffieient. 1 . Matth. v. 1 8 If 
one effential letter cannot pais from the law, much lefs can whole 
books be loft 2 Rom. xv. 4. If the Scriptures were written for 
*ur learning,^ end of the author, God, would not be gnfwer. 



( Us ) 



Having. thus explained the firft part, pafs on to 
the fecond, Grace and truth came by Jefus Ghriji 
You miift explain what grace is, and what truth is ;* 
you may apply both to the perfon of Jefus Chrift, 

ed, if they were loft. 3. The Scriptures were intended for 3 
canon, or rule of faith and action to all people, which they 
could not be, if loft. (See 2 Cor. x. 13. Gal. vi. 16.) 4. The 
Jews, who were entrufted with the oracles of God, Rom. iii. 
2. were never reproved by Chrift or his apoftles, for negligence 
on this head. 5. The providence of God interpofed itfelf in 
its prefervation in all their captivities. Alting. Probh TheoU pars 
L pr. 6. De Script, 

Moles quotes a book called, <( The Book of the Wars of the 
Lord : ' Numb. xxi. 14. but it does not follow that this book 
was canonical ; for St Paul quotes the writings of Aratus, Me- 
nander, and Epimenides but they are not therefore canonical. 
This is St Auguftine's reply, in his queftions on the book of 
Numbers. Alting obferves, the word fepher does not always 
fignify a book, fometimes it is put for a catalogue, as Gen. v. 1. 
This book is loft : but it was not canonical. 

Joflroa alfo quotes a book, entitled, The Book of Jafher, or 
the " Book of the Upright." Jofh. x. 1 3. Some of the Rabbies 
think, it is the book of Genefis ; others fay it is that called Ex- 
odus, and others take it to be the whole Pentateuch. Grotius 
thinks, it was a triumphant fong, compofed immediately after 
the defeat of the Gibeonites. Bifhop Huet fuppofes, it was a 
book of moral instructions. Malius, Junius, and Tremeliius, 
think, it was a book of jewifh annals, and they affign for a rea- 
fon that this book is quoted 2 Sam. i. 18. as containing the death 
of Saul, and the lamentations of David on that account. This 
was s theiefore, a public record begun before Jofhua's time, and 
continued down beyond the reigri of Saul, This book is loft : 
but it was not canonical. 

The hooks of i( Nathan the prophet, and Gad the feer," are 
canonical : but not loft ; for Samuel wrote only a part of the 
fir ft book of Samuel, to the end of the xxift or xxivth chapter ; 
the* reft of the firft book of Samuel, and all the fecond, were 
written by Nathan, and Gad, as the Rabbies affirm 

The books of <? Nathan, Ahijah, and Lido," 2 Chron. ix. 2c> 
are canonical: but not loft : for, of them, Ezra, who was in- 
fpired, compofed the 2 book of Kings, and the 2 book of Chro- 
nicles. 

The Scripture mentions the " books of the Acts of Solomon, 
1 Kings xi. 41 . which is probably loft : but we know not the 



( 149 ) 



and to the manner of his converfation here upon 
earth ; for there were two perpetual qualities difFufed 
through all his converfe, affability and fin eerily ; af- 
fability, or fweetnefs, expreffed by grace, and inte- 
grity, or fmcerity, expreffed by truth. Sinners are 
generally governed by two contraries, anger and de- 
ceit. 

AJlutum gejlant rabido fub peel ore vultmn. 

author, nor, do any one affirm, the book was canonical. See 2 
Chron. ix. 29. 

Solomon is faid to fpeak, not to " write three thoufand pro- 
verbs, and one thoufand and five fongs," 1 Kings iv. 32. One 
fong remains j and the books of Proverbs, and Ecclefiaftes, are 
compofed of the fentences, that are faid to have been fpoken by 
him ; the reft are loft : but, we fay as before, nobody can prove 
them canonical. 

Some fay, one Epiftle of S. Paul to the Laodiceans is loft. 
But the text fays it was an epiftle from Laodicea, Col. iv. 36. It 
was either a copy of the epiftle to the Ephefians, which the E- 
phefians had fent to the Laodiceans, and they to CololTe, if fo it 
is not loft. Or it was a letter from Laodicea to S. Paul, loft, but 
not canonical. 

Finally, fome think, one epiftle of S. Paul to the Corinthians 
is loft : but others remove the difficulty by reading the paffage 
(1 Cor. iv. 9.) thus, " I write unto you in this epiftle not to 
company with fornicators." They fay, egrapsa in the 9th verfe 
is in the fame tenfe as it is in the 1 ith. 

They fay, NUNJ in the 1 ith verfe is not to diftinguifh the time 
of one egrapsa from the other : but to introduce an explication, 
for the fake of removing an objection mentioned in the 10th 
verfe. They fay, te epistole is equal to taute epistole that 
o e to is a demonftrative pronoun, &c. &c. See Mom. Claude 
oeuvres pofihwnes.iom. v. lei, 41. 

All the writings of infpired men were not canonical ; we may 
therefore fafely allow, that fome of their writings are loft, while 
we maintain, that none of their infpired writings have perifhed; 
See 2 Sam. xi. 14. As for the hiftories, of Jannes and Jambres 
— of the confternation of Mofes — of the difpute about the body 
of Mofes — of the prophecy of Enoch, &c. they were either tra- 
ditional, or contained in the Jewifti hiftories : but we fay of 
quotations from them as we fay of quotations from Aratus and 
Menander. The Holy Ghoft has fanclified what are entered 
in the holy canon : but the reft remain as before. 



{ 150 ) 



They are profound, myfterious and Impenetrable, 
and under fpecious appearances they hide the moft 

* "The Holy Scripture is the eternal rule of the faith and 
practice of the church." Some pretend, that the infpired wri- 
tings were loft in the captivity, and that Ezra, by infpiration, re- 
ftored them in forty days. But this is a Jewifh fable. A great 
divine denies this pretended lofs for four good reafons. I. Da- 
niel had facred books in Babylon. Dan. xi. 2. 2. It is not ima- 
ginable, that Ezekiel, and other pious priefts, were fo carelefs as 
to go into Babylon without thefe books. 3. Ezra reformed ac- 
cording to the law of God, which was in his hand, which he had 
in keeping, not which he compofed. 4. Nehemiah directed 
Ezra, not to compofe : but to produce the book of the law in a 
public affembly of the people. Neh. viii. 1, 2, 3. Ezra indeed 
eollecl:ed, and collated the manufcripts, perhaps amended fome 
errors, that eopyifts might have inferted, added here and there 
a line explicatory of the text, and arranged the whole in itspre- 
ient order. In this work he was affiled by infpired perfons then 
alive, by Haggai, Zechariah, Malachy, and, fome add, Daniel. 
Whether he added the points is uncertain. Some Jews, and fome 
Chriflians, refer the invention of points to Mofes, and to God. 
Others attribute them to Ezra, for then, fay they, points became 
neceflary, becaufe the language was dead. A third clafs afcribe 
them to the Maforites, who were learned Jewifh doctors at Ti- 
berias, and who publifhed a new verfion of the Holy Scriptures, 
In the year of Chrift 476. when Theodofius was Emperor. " See 
Claude ubi fupra, let. xli. Alting Prob, Theolog. par. i. prob. 6. 
UfTerii Syntagma. Epift. Ludovico Capello. 

When we have afcertained the perfection of the holy canon, 
we have two other claries to contend with, as a learned foreign di- 
vine obferves, concerning the fufficiency of Scripture. The firif. 
confifts of Roman Catholics, who plead for the infufficiency of 
Scripture, for the fake of introducing the Pope, and Tradition? » 
The fecond confifts of enthufiafts, who place their own private 
opinions, which they call fpiritual revelations, on the fame ground 
with holy Scripture. Againft both thefe proteftantifm pleads, 
and juftly, for on the fufficiency of Scripture the whole fabric 
refts. See GlaJJti Philol. Sac. torn. i. Epift. Dedic. 

* " The Holy Scriptures are the foundation of our confolation, 
inftruction, and hope/ 5 The Scriptures were written to inftrucl: 
us in thofe theolocical articles, from the knowledge of which 
we might derive fpiritual comfort and hope. Some of the wri- 
ters were learned, Mofes particularly was learned in all the hu- 
man literature of the Egyptians ol his age : but does it follow that 
therefore the Pentateuch was written to fettle every branch of 
modern learning* 



( 151 ) 

fatal defigns, Kke thofe clouds, which under lumi- 
nous afpects conceal thunder and lightning, and hail 
and ftorm. The heart of Jefus Chrift was all love, 
peace and benevolence towards men, and all his ex- 
terior was fincerity and fweetnefs. * 

* " Jefus Chrift was all benevolence towards men." This is 
conferled by thofe, who in works deny it. Let us hear a court 
chaplain, whofe patron was a tyrant, and whofe religion is tyran- 
ny over the conferences of mankind. (( Tell ye the daughter of 
Sion, behold thy king cometh unto thee meek." The chara&er 
of Chrift's royalty is gentlenefs. Let fovereigns learn by his ex- 
ample to be gentle, affable, popular, humane, " learn of me,for 
I am meek and lowly." When, at the gates of Samaria Jefus 
refufed to confume that city by fire from heaven, did he not feem. 
to fay to all princes, by this act of clemency learn the gentle 
fpirit of my reign ? The propagation of the faith ought not to be 
confidered as the work of the civil magiitrate. This religion* 
which without the aid of temporal power has fur mounted the 
cruelty of tyrants, and all the authority of emperors, muft needs 
preferve, for ever preferve, this auguft imprefs of its divinity, 
in order to mark the glorious diftinction between it, and all other 
religions in the world, Let not a falfe zeal then undertake to 
convert by power a people already too miferable by their miftakesa 
We do not punilh the blind for not choofing the beft road. It is 
the grace of God which illuminates men ; let not authority pre- 
tend to affift grace. Faith perfuades, but it does not command. 

I do not ordain you, O kings I (methinks, God fays.) to force 
thofe, who are out of the church, into her bofom ; this belongs 
to my minifters, and for this purpofe 1 command them to employ 
the holy violence of example, love, zeal, patience, and inftruc- 
tion. Perfections are only proper to irritate fanaticifm, and to 
expofe the truth to hatred. It may be poffible for my religion 
to fuffer more by the indifcreet zeal of its defenders 3 than by 
the rage of its enemies. 

If fome unruly fpirits, tranfported with falfe zeal, endeavour 
to kindle the lightning in your hands, and to arm you againft 
error, tranquil and fubjecl: to the laws of the ftate, anfwer them, 
as I anfwer my difciples, Be gone, you know not the fpirit of 
your religion : can you be ignorant, that it is a religion of peace, 
gentlenefs, and love ? " Ye know not what manner of fpirit ye 
are of; Ser.de Torne, tom.iii. le Dim. des Rameaux. 

Could we fee (fays a learned and candid writer) the members 
of Chrift's myftical body, diverted of bigotry and prejudice, no 
longer divided by parties and tactions, nor ftained and fullied hf 

IK 



( £52 ) 

But, although this be true, yet this is not the fenfe 
of thefe words. Grace and truth are put here for 
the go/pel of Jefus Chrift. Grace in oppofition to 
the rigours of the law; truth in oppofition to prophe- 
cies, figures and imperfect beginnings. 

1. The gofpel is called grace, becaufe God has 
manifefted himfelf to us not vnth all the pompous 
and majeftic grandeur, with which he accompanied 
the law, when he publifhed it on mount Sinai *. but 
in a mild znA gentle manner, under the veil of the fa- 
cred humanity of Jefus Chrift ; for which reafon S. 
Paul fays, Great is the myfiery of godlinefs, God ma- 
nifeft in the flejh. * Formerly it was God manifeft in 
thunder and fire; God manifeft in the tabernacle- 
cloud ; God manifeft in the fplendor of angels ; but 
now it is God manifeft in the ficfh, in a familiar 
manner, in a manner, which no more frightens and 
alarms us. 

2. Grace, becaufe it confifts only in a revelation of 

vicioufnefs of life, joined together by an union of friendly dif- 
pofitions and kind affe&ions, and vying with each other in the 
promotion of mutual benevolence and good-will, this would give 
us the ftrongeft idea, we can at prefent have, of the happinefs of 
the future world, and of thofe fublime focial pleafures, which 
the righteous will enjoy, when they " come to the city of the 
living God, the heavenly Jerufalem, and to an innumerable com- 
pany of angels, to God the judge of all, and to Jefus the media- 
tor of the new covenant, and to the fpirits of jultmen made per- 
fect. Dr. Edwards's DilTertations on the Abfurdity and Injus- 
tice of religious Bigotry and Perfecution,'' 34. 

* God has manifefted himfelf to us in a mild manner. A learned 
expofitor has a mod beautiful turn on Johni. 14. (i We beheld 
his glory as the glory of the only-begotten of the Father; full of 
grace and truth." We beheld not that earthly glory, of which 
the Jews dream •, but a glory worthy of the only-begotten of the 
Father, the glory of holinefs arid grace, miracles and truth. 



( 153 ) 



the mercy of God,in a declaration of remiffion of fins, 
and of his parental love, &c. *• 

3. Grace, becaufe it comes to us by the pure good 
pleafure of God, without our having contributed 
any thing to it, either by our merit ; or by prepara- 
tions to receive it; or even by the leaft defire after it. 
He hath given it to us freely in every fenfe ; the 
blefling itfelf exceeds our merit, the manner of be- 
llowing it bears no proportion to our goodnefs ; for 
God gave it to us, when we did not think of it, when 
we had no merit to render us worthy of it, yea, 
when we had only difpofitions contrary to it. God 
loved us even w T hen we. were enemies. 

4. Grace, becaufe the gofpel is not only an out- 
ward invitation, which reaches the ear ; but it is an 
inward miniftration of the fpirit, it is the power of 
God to falvation. It is a word attended with divine 
efficacy, which converts us, and makes us new r 
creatures. 

5; Grace , in regard to the manner, in which the 
quickening fpirit, who accompanies the word, works 
in us ; for he operates neither by enthufiafms, nor 
extacies, nor violent tranfports, as formerly in the 
prophets ; but by a gentle and tranquil impreffion 
admirably adapted to rational creatures. It is by en- 
lightening our underftandings, by rectifying our rea- 
fon, &c. 

* " The Gofpel is called grace, becaufe it publifheth remiffion 
of fins." In this fenfe fome underftand S. Paul's words, Rom. 
vii. 25. « Who mall deliver me from the body of this death ? 
The grace of God through Jefus Chrift our Lord." So they read 
the words. Fulgentius de Trinitate Vid. Heinfti Exercitat Sacr. in 
he. and alfo Francis Lucas Brugenfis Notat. in Sacr. Biblia in loc\ 

* The holy fpirit reBifies reafon. Nothing can be of greater 
confequence to a miniiier than a fettling of the bounds of rea- 
fon in religious controverfies. Deifts afcribe too much to rea- 

u 



( ISA ) 



The Gofpel is alfo called truth ^ I. In oppofition 
to falfiood. The various religions, which have been 
in vogue upon earth, were all falle, and only an af- 
femblage of human errors. The Gofpel, on the con- 
trary, is the true way of ferving. God ; the only way 
of ialvation oppofed to the religions of the hea- 
thens. * 

fon, and enthufiafts too little. '« There are, fays a Dutch di- 
vine, but thr%e ways of obtaining the true fenfe of the Holy 
Scriptures. The firit is by fubmitting to the decifions of a vi- 
able head of the church; but this all proteftants reject. Ihe 
fecond is by the teftimony of the holy fpirit in the hearts of the 
ele£l : but the elecT think fo differently about the fenfe of Scrip- 
ture, that their various fentiments moll not be afcribed to One 
and the fame fpirit of truth. The third, therefore, is the only 
eligible way, which is the application of right reafon to the 
itandard of truth, the word of God. 

He obferves very juftly, that the Socinians, who plead for the 
ufe of reafon in interpreting Scripture, do allow that Chriftianity 
is a divine revelation, far fuperior to all the difcoveries, that na- 
tural reafon could ever make. 

Tbe chriftian religion is a divine revelation, of the evidences of 
the truth of which, right reafon is to judge. The difference be- 
tween the Socinians and our churches on this article feems to be 
this. We apply reafoning to the evidences of revelation, and they* 
to all the doctrines of it. According to us, reafon has done its 
office, when it has obtained Evidence that God /peaks. According 
to them, reafon is to rejecl: what is fpoken, if it cannot comprehend 
it. Of this, I think, I could give abundant proof from Socinian 
writers, were not this note already too long. We only there- 
fore add the remark of a learned Dutch divine, who, having e- 
numerated the writers on this controverfy, and difcuffed the 
queflion with the utmoft perfpicuity, obferves very juftly, that 
" on the decifion of this controverfy depends this queftion, 
which of all others is one of the moft difficult and important. 
.Dejudice, et norma coniroverfiarum fidei."*' Adrian Heereboord Me- 
letem. Phzbf vol. fee. Appendic. De ufu ration is y &c. 

* "The Gofpel is the true way of ferving God.'' Chriftianity 
(fays the excellent archbifhop of Cambray) chriftianity is the 
only worfhip worthy of God. The chriftian religion is the only 
one, which confifts in the love of God. Other religions con- 
futed in fearing the gods and endeavouring to appeafe them ; in 
hoping for their favours and endeavouring to procure them by 
honours, prayers and facrifices. Only the religion taught by 



( tit ) 



z. Truths in oppofition to the vanity of human 
"knowledge, which is fallacious. Philofophy indeed 
teaches things true in themfelves, but which are vain 
and fantaftic, mean and uninterefting in regard to us;, 
for which reafon Solomon exclaims, Vanity of 
vanities^ all is vanity ! This may he applied, not 
only to human fciences ; but alfo to all the temporal 
occupations of the lives of men. Hence the poet, 
0 curas hominum I 0 quantum eft 

in rebus inane! Pers. 
The Gofpel is that pearl of the parable, which e« 
very one who finds fells all to poffefs. Ifaiah, 
fpeaking of the temporal goods of this life, fays, it 
Jhall even be as when a hungry man dreameth^ and 
behold he eateth ; but he awaketh^ and his foul is 
empty : or as when a thirjly man dreameth^ and be- 
hold he drinketh\ hut he awaketh, and behold he is. 
faints and his foul hath appetite. Ifai. xxix. 8. Gof- 
pel bleffings have, on the contrary, a comforting ef- 

Jefus Chrift obliges us to love God more than ourfelves, and 
only to love ourfelves, for the love of him. Chriftianity is only 
the deftruclion of the idolatry of felf-love, and the eftablifhment 
of the worfhip of God in a fupreme affection. Judaifm is only 
a beginning, or rather only a Shadow, of this promifed worfhip. 
Take from Judaifm its grofs figures, its temporal bleffings, the 
fat of the land the dew of heaven, myfterious promiies, tolerated 
imperfections, and legal ceremonies, and there will remain only 
chriftianity begun. I do not fpeak of the followers of Moham- 
med : they do not deferve it. Their religion is nothing but the 
grofs, fervile, and mercenary worfhip of the molt carnal Jews, 
to which they have added tie admiration of a falfe prophet.— 
Socrates himfelf has, comparatively difcovered nothing, while an 
humble though fimple woman, while a teachable artifan, dis- 
covers all in finding love. Seek where you will, you can never 
find this true worfhip, clear, pure, and perfect, but among chri- 
ftians. They only know a God infinitely lovely, &c. Fenelon 
Qeuvves Philof. let. fur VExiJlence de Dieu. p, 2. 



( 155 ) 



ficacy, which fills the heart, and yields a man folld 
content. * 

* Go/pel hlejjmgs yield folid content. 

Religion ! Providence ! an after- (late ! 

Here is firm footing here is folid rock ; 

This can fupport us; all is fea befide ; 

Sinks under us beftorms, and then devours. 

His hand the good man fallens on the Ikies, 

And bids earth roll, nor feels her idle whirl. 

Religion ! thou the foul of happinefs; 

And groaning Calvary of thee ! there mine 

The nobleft truths ; there ftrongeft motives fling : 

There facred violence aflaults the foul, &c. 

Night Thoughts, N. 4. 
This is not a poetic flight. This is a fober cool affirmation of 
a matter of fact. On the one hand, all men declare, there is 
no folid happinefs in earthly poffeffions ; on the other, all be- 
lievers affirm, the Gofpel affords a rich profufion of folid joy. 
The dignity of its author — the evidence of its arguments — the 
gentlenefs of its precepts — the nature and duration of its promifes — 
thefe, and a thoufand other bleffings, make the richeft of all im- 
aginable provifions for rational joy. 

Ifaiah f peaks of temporal good* xxix. 8. Our author follows 
many commentators of great name in the turn, that he gives to 
this paflage *, but great names here have no jurifdiction ; and the 
fcope of the place feems to determine againft them. 

The prophet is fpeaking of the deflruclion of Jerufalem. The 
objects of his contemplation, which are to be deftroyed, are the 
places ariel, the city, the garrifcn, the altar, the temple. The de- 
Jtroyers are multitudes of all nations, Babylonians, Romans, and o- 
thers. The difpofitions of thefe victorious armies are cruel, in- 
fatiable. Their conquefts will no more fatiate iheir hatred of the 
Jewilh nation, than dreaming of food will fatisfy a hungry man. 
They will go on from liege to fiege, from conquell to conqueft, 
till they have utterly deftroyed the civil Hate of Judea, and dif- 
perfed the inhabitants over the whole earth. Events have jufti- 
fied this expofition. We do not affirm, that the rich veflels of 
the temple were no objects to the conquerors of the Jews •, nor 
do we deny, that they, who obtained thefe riches, found no fo- 
lid fatisfacfion in them. We only beg leave to obferve, that the 
fcope of the place requires us to underftand the prophet, as fpeak- 
ing not of an infatiable thirft for gold, but of an infatiable thir ft 
for conquejl. 

No folid happinefs in fcience. That prodigy of learning, Joseph 
Scaliger, who perfectly underftood thirteen languages, was 
deeply verfed in almoft every branch of literature, and was per- 



( 157 ) 



3. Truth, that is, conftancy and ftedfaftnefs,- 



bleflings. * 

haps one of the greateft fcholars that any age has produced, found 
fo much perplexity, not in acquiring but in communicating his 
knowledge, that fometimes, like Nero, he wifhed he had never 
known his letters. 

* " The fafliion of this world pafTeth away." Arch- 
bifliop Flechier amplifies the fubjecl: thus. " The world 
has nothing folid, nothing durable ; it is only a fafliion, 
and a fafliion which pafleth away. Yes, Sirs! the tendered 
friendfliips end. Honours are fpecious titles, which time ef- 
faces. Pleafures are amufements, which leave only a lading 
and painful repentance. Riches are torn from us by the vio- 
lence of men, or efcape us by their own inftability. Grandeurs 
moulder away of themfelves. Glory and reputation at length 
lofe themfelves in the abyffes of an eternal oblivion. So rolls 
the torrent of this world, whatever pains are taken to flop 
it. Every thing is carried away by a rapid train of pafling mo- 
ments, and by continual revolutions we arrive, frequently with- 
out thinking of it, at that fatal point, where time finiflies> and 
eternity begins. 

" Happy then the chriftian foul, who, obeying the precept 
of Jefus Chrift, loves not the world, nor any thing that compo- 
fes it ; who wifely ufes it as a mean, without irregularly cleav- 
ing to it as his end; who knows how to rejoice without difli- 
pation, to forrow without defpair, to defire without anxiety, to 
quire without injuftice, to pofiefs without pride, and to lofe 
without pain ! Happy yet farther the foul, who rifmg above 
itfelf, in fpite of the body which encumbers it, remounts to its 
origin; paifes without paufing beyond created things, and hap- 
pily lofes itfelf in the bofom of its Creator!" Flech. Orais. funeb. 
de Madame d' Aiguillon. 




( -158 ) 



4. Truth, in oppofition to prophecies in the law, 
which were only promifes ; the Gofpel is the ac- 
complifliment of thefe ; therefore Jeius Chrift faid 
upon the crofs. It is Jinijhed; and at another time, 
/ have Jinijhed the work, which thou gavejl me to do. 
For this reafon the Gofpel is called the promije, be- 
caufe it is the execution of the great and glorious 
promifes of God. God in regard to the Gofpel calls 
himfelf Jehovah who is ; under the law he calls 
himfelf Jehovah zvho will be: but under the Gofpel, 
who is, who was, and who is to come. For, having 
accomplifhod his ancient promifes, he hath laid firm 
foundations of future glory. 

5. Truth, in oppofition to the ancient Jewifh 
figures, of which Jefus Chrift is the fubftance. 
The law was a Jhadow oj good things to come: but 
the Gofpel exhibits the fubftance, the original, the 
archetype of what was reprefented in the law, the 
true fpiritual Ifrael of God, the true deliverance 
from fpiritual Egypt, the true manna, the true taber- 
nacle, the true Jerufalem, all thefe we have under the 
Gofpel. * 

* Jefus Chrift was the fubftance of the ancient figures of 
the law. A great controvorfy hath arifen among learned men, 
on the origin, nature and ufe of the Mofaic rites of religion. 
Some contend that the Mofaic ceconomy was human, and that 
the Jews received their religion from the Egyptians ; on the 
contrary, the far greater part of both ancient and modern di- 
vines afhrm, that the Mofaic difpenfation was all divine, and 
that the heathens derived their doctrines and ceremonies of re- 
ligion originally from the Jews, and that they debafed them by 
mixing them with Pagan philofophy and fuperftitious_ popular 
cufloms. There is a third opinion, that the Jewifh^ ritual re- 
tained fome harmlefs Egyptian ceremonies, and purified them 
by applying them to nobler objects— that all erroneous notions 
and immoral ufages of the pagans were exprefly forbidden— 
and that the far greater part of the Mofaic ceconomy was^ of 
pure revelation, of original divine inftitution— the whole being 



( i& ) 



6. Truths in oppofition to the imperfect be- 
ginnings under the law. We are no longer under 
tutors and governors; but children at full age. 
We have not received the fpirit of bondage again to 
fear, but the fpirit of [adoption , whereby we cry, Ab- 
ba, Father. I cannot help remarking, by the way, 
the ignorance of Meffieurs of Port-Royal, who 
have tranflated this paffage My Father, inftead of 
Abba Father, under pretence that the Syriac word, 
ylbba fignifies father, They did not know, that 
St Paul alluded to a law among the Jews, which 
forbad flaves to call a free-man Abba, or a free- wo- 
man Imma. The apoftle means, that we were no 
more flaves ; but freed by Jefus Chrift ; and confe- 
quently that we might call God Abba, as we may 
call the church Imma. In tranflating the paffage then, 
the word Abba, although it be a Syriac word, and 
unknown in our tongue, muft always be preferved, 
for in this term confifts the force of St Paul's rea» 
foning. 

wifely adapted to the then prefent (late of the Jews, and figni- 
ficative of, and preparatory to, the advent of the perfon and the 
execution of the offices of Jefus Chrift. The feveral arguments 
are too long to be inferted here : but fee Marfham Canon Chro- 
nic, fecul. ix. Spenceri Differ t. de; Urim et Thum. cap. 
iv. feci:. 8. &c. Maimon. More Nevoch. iii. 46. Jofeph. Cont. 
Ap. Li. 1. Origen. cont. Celf. 1. i. Eufeb. Praspar. lib. xiii. 12. 
&c. &c. cum multis aliis. 

Father Quefnel ftrikes out, in three words, a proper method 
of difcourfmg on John i. 14. " Chrift is the fulnefs of truth, 
of grace, and of glory. 1 . Of truth, to verify the types and 
figures of the Jewilh church. 2. Of grace, to compleat the 
righteoufnefs of the chriftian church. 3 Of glory, to crown 
the holinefs of the elect, and to perfect and confummate the 
church and religion in heaven." Quefnel's Reflec on the New 
Teft. in loc. 

The difcuffion of thefe three articles would edify common hear- 
ers, while the introducing of difputes about the firft-mentioned 
articles would perplex and confound them. 



( 160 ) 



You may now pafs to the confideration of the 
author of the Gofpel. Grace and truth came by Jefus 
Chrift. Here you may obferve what was common 
both to Mofes and Jefus, and what advantages Jefus 
Chrift had over Mofes. * 

Firft then, Jefus Chrift, like Mofes, was recipro- 
cally an interpreter, on God's part bringing to men 
the myfteries of revelation ; and on men's part pre- 
fenting to God their faith, piety, prayers, and pro- 
mifes of obedience. 

2. His miniftry, like Mofes's, was accompanied 
with miracles of divine power, and glory, &c, 

3. He, like Mofes, caufed his Gofpel to be written 
for a pepetual rule ; by which the church is to con- 
duel itfelfto the end of the world. 

But, whatever agreement there might be between 
Mofes and Jefus Chrift, there is no comparifon of 
the one with the other. For 

Obferve the fitmlerity of Jefus to Mofes. Mofes faid to the 
Jews, " A prophet {hall the Lord your God raife up unto you 
like unto me.'' Among ancient writers on this article, fee Eufe- 
bius Demonfl, Evan. lib. iii. cap. 2. And among the moderns 
Dr Jortin. Rem. on Eccl. Hijl. vol. i. or both, in Bp. Newton's 
fixth Differtation on the Prophecies. 

Chriftian minifters, who propofe the Gofpel to the Jews> 
{hould be well verfed in this article ; for, as a learned Dutch di- 
vine hath well obferved, one of their ftrongeft prejudices againft 
chriftianity is their opinion, that chrifhianity is diametrically 
oppofite to the Mofaic religion, and abfolutely deftru&ive of it. 
The ancient Jews exclaimed againft Stephen, becaufe he faid. 
u Jefus ihall change the cuftoms, which Mofes delivered." A£ts 
m. 14. And againft S. Paul, becaufe they fuppofed, he " per- 
fuaded men to worfhip God contrary to the law. xviii. 13. We 
acknowledge, Jefus hath changed the ceremonial cufoms instituted 
by Mofes : but we affirm, he hath done this, not to deftroy, but 
to eftablifh the moral law I not in oppofition to the writings of 
Mofes, but in perfect agreement with his prophecy ; a prophet 
pall God rafe up) &C. Hoornbeek contra Judceos* Prolegom. 
s. xii. 2. 



( 161 ) 



1. Mofes Was not the author of the law, he was 
only the difpenfer of it ; God himfelf pronounced 
the moft eflential part out of the midft of the flames, 
and wrote it in the end with his own finger on tables 
offtone: but Jefus Chrift is the author of gr act and 
truth, for the Gofpel is founded on his blood, on his 
propitiation, and merit. 

2. Mofes was not, properly fpeaking, the media- 
tor of God's covenant with the Israelites, although 
he is fo called in Scripture, becaufe he was a typical 
mediator, that is, a fimple interpreter between God 
and the people. If God honoured him thus, it was 
neither in confideration of his perfonal merit, nor on 
account of the love, which God had for him, that 
fuch a covenant was made; Mofes himfelf was a fin- 
ner, and a real mediator he wanted himfelf : but with 
Jefus Chrift, on his own account, and for the love, 
which the Father had for him, the covenant of grace 
was made, &c 

3. Mofes could indeed report the fentiments and 
words of the people to God : but he could neither be- 
come a guarantee for their prefent fmcerity nor their 
future perfeverance; not only becaufe he could not 
govern their hearts, but even becaufe he did not know 
them ; but Jefus Chrift is men's furety and refpond- 
ent to God, both for the fmcerity of their faith and 
holinefs, and alfo for their final perfeverance ; for he 
intimately knows the hearts of men, and, being Lord 
of all, bows and turns them as he pleafes. 

4. The fpirit, which accompanied the legal ceco 
nomy, did not proceed from Mofes, Mofes was nei- 
ther the fource, nor the difpe7ifer of it : but Jefus 
Chrift is the true origin of this blefling ; it is his fpi- 
rit, which the faithful receive, of his fuluefs (fays S, 
John) have all we received, and grace for grace, 

X 



( 162 ) 



5. Mofes's miracles were wrought not by his own, 
but by a foreign power ; but Jefus Chrift wrought 
his miracles by his own power, &c, 

Finally, Mofes was only eftablifhed as a fervant 
over the houfe of God; but Jefus Chrift as a fon, 
that is, as mafter and heir. For Mofes indeed was 
a mere man : but Chrift is the Son of God, and God 
hath bleffed him for ever. Of him Mofes prophefied, 
when he faid, The Lord thy God will raife up unto 
thee a prophet like unto me, him JJoall ye he hear. 
Deut. xviii. 15, 16. * 

1 This literal method of explication, of which Mr Claude has 
given the above example, is very juftly accounted the be/lwzy of 
interpreting fcripture, by the moft fenfible men among both 
Jews and chriltians. " The Jews, fays a learned Swifs, ufe dif- 
ferent methods of expounding Scripture. Aben Ezra reckons 
five ways, which prevail among' them. The firfi is the method 
of the eaftern Jews, and, properly f peaking, is no method at all. 
It is a collecting of heterogeneous articles. Thus one Rabbi 
Ifaac publifhed two large volumes on the firft chapter of Genefis. 
The fecond is the Sadducean method, which, rejecting all com* 
ments, takes the literal meaning only. The third rejects the 
literal fenfe, and turns all into allegory. The fourth admits the al- 
legorical method, and fancifully extracts doctrines from poinf$ s 
numeral letters, Sec. The fifth which is the beft way of explaining 
it,) explains the literal, genuine, and grammatical fenfe. admits 
and inveftigates the doctrine, that arifes from the text fo ex- 
plained, and refutes and rejects other fenfes." Hottingeri Thefaur 
Philol.l. i. cap. 2. f. i. De Theol. in gen ere. 

Our beft Englifh preachers have always aimed at the moral 
good of their hearers, and they have fuppofed, that what Monf. 
Du-Pin calls the natural and necejfary fenfe of Scripture was belt 
calculated to produce moral effects. Many examples might be 
given : but one (hall fuffice at prefent. The firft mafter of E- 
manuel College, in Cambridge, was a man eminently ufeful in 
the pulpit, and his method will exemplify my meaning. His 
chief end in preaching was the good of his people. And he 
ftrove not in his Sermons to tickle the Ears of his hearers, but 
to inftil into their Hearts what was moft ufelul in an agreeable 
manner : to adapt his Sermon to the comprehenfions of his hear- 
ers, and by that means to exalt greatly their faith and piety. 
Admirable defign ! and worthy thebreaft of a chriftian minifter? 
Pita Lmirentii Cbadertwi) a W. Dillingham* 



( 163 ) 



There are fome texts, which muft be difcufled by 
way of explication, although neither terms nor 
things are difficult : but becaufe the matter is impor- 
tant, and a meditation of it beautiful and full of edi- 
fication. Pafiages of this kind muft needs be pro- 
pofed in all their extent. 

Take, for example, thefe words of S. Paul, 2 
Cor. iv. 7. We have this treafure in earthen vejfels, 
that the excellency of the power may be of God, and 
not of us. This paffage is of this fort the terms are 
eafy, and the fubject, of which S. Paul fpeaks, has 
no difficulty : but yet, on account of the importance 
of the matter, it muft needs be explained, or to fpeak 
more properly, extenfively propofed, 

I would then divide this text into two parts 5 the 
firft fhould be the apoftie's propoftion, and the fe- 
cond, the reafon, which he gives for it. His propo- 
rtion is contained in thefe words, we have this trea- 
fure in earthen vejfels. The reafon, which he affigns, 

The following remarks of the Archbifhop of Cambray are not 
foreign from this article. " If the clergy applied themfelves to 
the ancient way of making homilies, we fhould then have two 
different forts of preachers. They who have no vivacity or a 
poetical genius, would explain the Scriptures clearly^ without imi- 
tating its lively noble manner : and if they expounded the word 
of God judicioufly, and fupported their doctrine by an exemplary 
life, they would be very good preachers. They would have 
what S. Ambrofe requires, a chafte, 'fimple, clear ftyle, full of 
weight and gravity ; without affecting elegance, or defpifing the 
Imoothnefs and graces of language. The other fort having a 
poetical turn of mind, would " explain the Scripture in its own 
ftile and figures," and by that means become accomplifhed 
preachers. One fort would inftrucl; people with clear «^/}, force, 
and dignity: and the other would add to this powerful inftruc- 
tion, the fublimity, the enthufiafm, and vehemence of Scripture: 
io that it would (if I may fo fay) be intire, and living in them, 
as much as it can be in men who are not miraculcufly infpired 
from above." Fenelon's Dialogues on Elcauence dial. 3. 



( 164 5 



is contained in the following words, that the excellence 
of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

In order to treat of the firft properly, you mint ex- 
amine i. what is the treafure y and 2. how it is in 
earthen vejfels. 

This treafure is the gofpel of Jefus Chrift, which 
in Scripture is reprefented to us under various images 
borrowed from human things. * Sometimes it is 
called a light, the dayfpring from on high vifiting us 
when we fat in the region and fhadow of death. 
Sometimes it is called life. Sometimes a refur reel ion. 
Sometimes a net cajl into the fea. Sometimes a feed. 
Here it is reprefented under the image of a trea- 
fure. 

1. On account of its worth and excellence ; for 
what can be fo valuable as this gofpel of Jefus 
Chrift? &c 

2. Becaufe of its abundance ; for here are infinite 
riches, &c. 

3. For its truth and reality; for it is indeed a 
heavenly treafure^ which this world cannot afford, 
which grace only gives, and gives only to the e- 
lecl. In this fenfe the Gofpel in the parable is 

;* The Gofpel is reprefented under various Images. Some 
divines make a general divifion of the theology of our Scriptures 
into two parts, the one they call demon/lrathe, either affirming, 
as of God, that he is gocd s wife, holy, and happy ; or denying, as 
of God, that he is vifible, comprehenfible, material, &c. The 
other part they name fymbolical* as when heart, hands, eyes, &c. 
are attributed to God. This diftin£tion is very juft and proper, 
and a chriftian minifter, who attends cautioufly to it, will eafily 
perceive, that the demonftrative, or, as fome call it, the pbilofo- 
phical part of holy Scripture, is, ftri&ly fpeaking, the only part 
irom which a'ocirines, and arguments to fupport them, can be fair- 
ly drawn : the Symbolical part is defigned chiefly, if not wholly 
for ill vfi ration ; the firft is addreiTed to the judgment, the laft to 
the pa (lions. 



( 165 ) 

likened to treafure hid in a field; and to a pearl of 
great price, &c. 

4. T reafure, which cannot be poffejfed without 
joy, without jealoufy, without caution, &c. 

5. The apoftle, in the preceding verfes, had call- 
ed the Gofpel light, glory, and knowledge, the light 
(fays he) of the glorious Gofpel of Ghrifl. The light 
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of 
Jefus Cbrifl. This treafure then is a treafure of light \ 
a treafure of glory, a treafure of knowledge ; and, 
what is more, of the light, the glory, and the know- 
ledge of God. 

6. The Gofpel may be confidered, either as re- 
ceived and poffeffed by fimple believers, or as it is 
depofited in the hands of the miniflers of the Gofpel. 
I own, it is worthy of being called a treafure in both 
confiderations, but moft in the fecond ; for this Gof- 
pel is found in minifters in a more full and abundant 
meafure than in others, * they have accumulated 
much more light, much more knowledge. But if 
it be thus with ordinary minifters, how much more 

* " Minifters poiTefs the Gofpel in an abundant meafure." • 
An animated French writer very juftly obferves, however, 
that " as the gifts of minifters are extremely diverfified, their 
knowledge, and, confequently, their preaching will be fo too. 
Some have what Solomon had, a largenefs of heart, 1 Kings iv. 
29. while others have narrow contracted fouls. The former, 
fays he, by the grace of God, as by a kind of natural inftincl:, 
will conceive noble ideas, each will revolve them in a liberal, 
generous, magnanimous mind, and will utter them in a free un- 
forced manner, as rivers in rich abundance flow from their foun- 
tains. The laft, adds our writer, will take unwearied pains firft 
to collect:, and then to impart a few low notions. Their ideas 
rather belong to other men than to themfelves, and, when with 
great induftry they have collected them into their own barren 
minds, they will diftil them on their hearers drop by drop." 
Du. Jarry Sentim.fur le MiniJUr Evangelique, chap. vii. 



( 166 ) 



does it deferve to be called a treafure as the apofles 
poffefled it ? 

The apoftles had the Gofpel i . In all its extent y 
not being ignorant of any of its myfteries, &e. 

2. In all its degrees, penetrating even to the bot- 
tom of divine myfteries, &c. 

3. In all its purity, without any mixture of er- 
ror. This treafure in them was, as it were, in a 
public Magazine ; or as the waters of a fountain are 
in its bafon, &c. 

7, Farther, the Gofpel is called a treafure, in op- 
position to the falfe treafures of the earth, which are 
nothing in comparifon of this. If David faid of the 
revelation of the law, the judgments of the Lord are 
more defrable than gold, yea than fine gold, what 
would he have faid of the myfteries of the Gofpel, 
had he lived under a revelation of them ? * 

8. This treafure was once hid in God's decrees : 
but now it is a treafure fet forth and difplayed in the 
Gofpel ; for which reafon St Paul fpeaking of the 
Gofpel fays, /// it are hidden treafures of wifdom and 
knowledge : as if he had faid, thofe treafures, which 
were formerly hid in God, are now revealed in the 
Gofpel. In the fame fenfe he faid, the myftery hid 

* u What would David have faid of the myfteries of the Gof- 
pel !" The gofpel is certainly an ineftimable treafure, and they, 
who have beft understood it, have given up property, liberty, 
and life itfelf rather than renounce it. A firm belief of its 
principles, and a clofe attachment to its precepts, are the beft 
evidences of our regard for it. Many chriftians, however, -it 
mult be allowed, have not entered into the fpirit of this true 
and holy religion : but have expreffed their refpe£t for the Gof- 
pel by ignorant and fuperftitious, and fometimes by tyrannical 
?ndbloody practices , 



c 167 r 



from ages and from generations Is now made manifeji 
to the faints. Col. i. 26. * 

But this Treafire (fays the apoftle) is In us, as in 
earthen vejfels. You may introduce this article by 

(2) * c S. Paul fays, In it are hid all the treafures of wifdom." 
Col. ii 3. Our tranflation reads in whom, that is, in Chrift ; 
but it {hould be rendered, fay fome, in which, in which myftery 
of God, and of the Father, and of Chrift, are hid all the trea- 
fures, &x. 

Some commentators take the paflage in the firft fenfe. Cor- 
nelius a Lapide, after Chryfoftom, fuppofes, that the paiTage op- 
pofes the Gnoftics ; as if St Paul hadfaid, All ufeful knowledge 
is to be derived not from Simon, nor from the Gnoftics, nor from 
the angels, with whom they pretend to converfe; but from 
Chrift. Corn, a Lap. in he. 

Erafmus, and others, take it in the Iaft fenfe, as if St Paul 
had faid, All ufeful knowledge is contained in the Gofpel, al- 
though it be a myftery to you ; and can neither be derived from 
pagan philofphers, nor from Jewifh teachers of the law, nor 
from thofe, who pretend to converfe with angels. Erafmus in 
loc. 

Some have been fo weak as to affirm, from this, and fimilar 
paflages, that the Scriptures contain all human knowledge, and 
accordingly they have appealed to them to decide queftions irt 
philofophy. Nothing can be more abfurd. Others, with great 
propriety, have written differtations on various fubjeclis of natu- 
ral hiftory, as they are occafionally mentioned in the Bible. 

Treafures of wifdom, a very natural image, in common ufe. 
Before God there is neither Servant nor Mailer. No one is 
poor in the fight of God, but he who is without righteoufnefs : 
no one rich but he who is rich in virtue. Laclant. de jujtit. L v» 
c. 15. Div. injl. 

The ranfom was paid down ; the fund of heav'n, 
Heaven's inexhauftible, exhaufted fund, 
Amazing, and amaz'd, pour'd forth the price, 
All price beyond ; tho' curious to compute, 
Archangels fail'd to caft the mighty fum : 
Its value vaft ungrafp'd by minds create, 
For ever hides, and glows in, the Supreme. 

- - - - Man all immortal ! hail ; 

Hail, heav'n ! all-lavilh of ftrange gifts to man I 

Thine all the glory ; man's the boundlefs blifs. 

Night Thoughts, N. 4. 



( 168 ) 



obferving the ufe of Gideon's pitchers and lamps ; 
and you may farther obferve, that, when the Lord 
committed the difpenfation of his word to angels, he 
put it into precious veffels ; when he was pleafed im- 
mediately to reveal it himfelf either in vifions, dreams, 
or familiar interviews with his faints, it was in its 
fource without veffels ; when he declared himfelf by 
the fun, moon, and ftarry heavens, the treafure was 
indeed in veffels, but in veffels grand and glorious: for 
which reafon, when David, in the xix Pfalm, faid, 
The heavens declare the glory of God, hedifplayed at 
the fame time, the grandeur of the heavens, and par- 
ticularly of the fun. When God committed his 
word to Mofes and the prophets, he might be faid to 
put the treafure into veffels of iron, and brafs : but 
when he committed it to the apoftles, * it was put, 
properly fpeaking, into veffels of earth. 

* " God committed his word to apoftles," The word apo- 
ftle fignifies limply meflenger. It was in ufe among the Greeks 
before the time of Jefus Chrift. Herodot. lib. i. cap. 21. It was 
alfoin ufe among the Jews, and Jewifh apoftles were afliftants 
to the high priefts in difcufling queftions of the law. They 
were fometimes employed in infpe&ing the fynagogues, in re- 
gulating the priefts and Levites, and in reforming the morals 
of the common people. The Jews continued to employ men, 
whom they called apoftles, in their religious affairs till the 
times of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorious ; Vid t Barronii 
Anales, an. 32. 

Befide the twelve apoftles appointed by Jefus Chrift, there 
were, in the primitive churches, apoftles or meftengers of their 
own appointing, who reprefented thefe churches and tranfacled 
their diftant affairs. 

The name apoftle was not only given to Jefus Chrift himfelf, 
Heb. iii, 1. but to John Baptift by Tertullian*, to the feventy difci- 
ples , to the difciples of the apoftles ; to the meftengers of the 
churches; andtothofe, who propagated the Gofpel long after 
the primitive age : and even to women. 

Generally fpeaking, apoftles were extraordinary officers, ei- 
ther appointed//^ tempore, or for life, to itinerant labours, and 
not confined to any one place. See Salmas. de Epifc. 



C 189 ) 



Youmay here compare the different ways, in which 
it has pleafed God to reveal his Word to men. i* 
By himfelf, and by his Son ; 2. by the angels, and 
by the heavens ; 3. by Mofes, and by the prophets; 
and 4. by the apoftles; with Nebuchadnezzar's fta- 
tue, the head of which was of gold, the breaft and 
arms of filver, the belly and thighs of brafs, the legs 
of iron, and the feet partly iron, and partly clay ; for 
in God, and in Jefus Chrift his fon ; the ireafure of 
the word was moft pure and precious ; in angels it 
was as in veffels of filver; in the heavens as in veffels 
of brafs, (as it is faid, the heavens are as a * molten 
looking glafs.) in Mofes, and the prophets as in a 
veffel of iron ; and in the apoftles, who are as the 
feet of the ftatue, as in vejfels of earth, f 

The apoftles are 1. veffels, not authors of the go- 
fpel, nor founders of the benefits of it : but fimpleitf- 
Jiruments : veffels which contain the treafure: but 
do not give it its value; for the excellence of the 
Gofpel is not derived from their dignity, we do not 
believe it on their account : on the contrary, it is the 

* " Heavens as a molten looking-glafs." Job, xxxviii. 18. We 
tranflate the Hebrew word maroth looking-glafles ; becaufe now 
fuch things are commonly made of glafs : but anciently of poli- 
fhed brafs, which were looked upon as far better than filver, for 
that made a weaker reflection. 

* This comparifon, of the various revelations, which it has 
pleafed God to make of himfelf, with Nebuchadnezzar's image* 
feems very far-fetched. Partiality for Mr Claude cannot pre- 
vent our feeing, that he was allured into it merely by an agree- 
ment of founds. However, it is but lapiiis lingua ; for, in gene- 
ral, no man was more averfe to every thing unnatural and far- 
fetched than Mr. Claude. Had he been proving any article of 
our belief, he would have been the lait man to have mentioned 
iuch a thing, but he is illuitrating a matter, the truth of which 
is not difputed ; if it be pardonable to be unguarded any where, 
it is in illuitrating uncontroverted points. Amidd the many 
beauties, with which our author prefents us ? this little defect di* 
mi nifties and disappears. 

Y 



( 170 ) 



treafure, which they contain, that gives them autho- 
rity and value. * 

2. Earthen veffels. i. For the meannefs of their con- 
ditidnSj they were poor fmful men. S. Paul himfelf 
a tent maker, intoxicated with felf-love, a perfecutor, 
&c * 

* " The apoftles are not authors of the gofpel : but inftru- 
ments only." How beautifully does S. John"exprels this ? " Of 
his fulness have all we received grace for the promulga- 
tion of grace." John i. 16* 

This fenfe offers no violence either to the literal meaning of 
the words or to the fcope of the place: nor is it a fenfe impofed 
to ferve a doctrinal fyftem. Of all the expofitipns of this phrafe* 
grace for grace, and they are many, this feems the molt eligible* 

* <ff The apoftles were poor mean men. 

Omnibus obfcurum genus, et fine luce penates, 
Atque humilis fortuna, nec aftu prxdita vita. 
Ut genus indecores pene omnis fie quoque ncftra. 
Nomina dura vides, infueta atque afpera dictu : 
Haud fades folaeft, impexis horrida barbis. 

Vida Chriftiad. lib. 4+ 

There are two grand errors derived by many from the condi- 
tion of the apoftles. The firft is an inference drawn from their 
condition before their call to apoftleftiip. The apoftles, fay fome- 
were ignorant illiterate men, yet they were preferred before wi- 
fer men by Jefus Chrifr, and were fent by him to lay the founda- 
tions of chriftian churches ; hence we infer, that j 11 ignorance 
be not a qualification, it is, however, no difqualification for the 
minifterial office. Thefe reafoners miftake the calling of the a- 
poftles to difcipleihip, for their miffion to preach. They were, 
indeed, grofly ignorant at the firft period : but they were well 
qualified at the laft ; and, befide ordinary inftruclion under the 
miniftry, and in the company of Jefus, they were furnifhed with 
extraordinary powers to prove their miffion. 

The other error is that of the church of Rome, and is taken 
from the condition of the apoftles (or rather from the condition 
of one apoftle, Peter.) after their miffion. The apoftles were 
heads of the church throughout the whole world. — For the Ro- 
man Pontiffs who fucceeded him (that is Peter) obtained the 
command and plenitude of power over the church throughout the 
whole world. " Petavii de Eccl. Hierarch. lib. iv. cap. 7. f. 3. 

The proteftant churches require three things on this article of 
the catholic divines. 1, To prove, that S: Peter, or any of the 



{ m ) 

2. Earthen Vtffeh for the afflictions, to which they 
were fubject. They were expofed to all forts of ac- 
cidents; to accidents of nature as other men ; to cala- 
mities which belonged to their office, as perfecutions, 
prifons, baniihments, &c. 

3. Earthen vejfels in regard to their own infirmi- 
ties. S. Peter's diffimulation, (which Paul reproved 
to his face.) his rafhncfs in diffuading Chrift from dy- 
ing, which drew on him that reproof, in which 
Chrift called him Satan ; his Jliipor on mount Tabor; 
his fall in the high-prieft's palace ; the unbelief of 
Thomas ; the contention between Paul and Barna- 
bas ; the fpirit of authoritative pride^ which made 
them difpute who mould be the greateft ; their fpirit 
of revenge againft the Samatitans, on whom they 
would have made fire defcend from heaven, &c. all 
thefe infirmities proved their brittlenefs and frailty. 

apoftles, exercifed fuch a dominion as they plead for. This they 
can never do. 

2. To make it appear that the reigning pcpe is the legal fuo 
ceflbr of S. Peter. This article is equally difficult to the catho^ 
lies. They cannot prove that S. Peter was Bifhop of Rome — <■ 
they cannot make out a legal exercifeof epifcopal functions with- 
out a voluntary election of the people— they cannot even make 
out a clear fucceflion in their own way, on account of their anti* 
popes, want of hiftorical materials, &c. &c. 

3. They are required to prove, that " Jefus Chrift has direc- 
ted any of the fuceefibrs of the apoftles to exercife fuch power, 
as they exercifed.'' The apoftles were endued with extraordi- 
nary gifts, and employed in extraordinary works 5 when the firft 
ceafed the laft ended alfo. 

When the popifh writers fay, 16 Jefus Chrift. was the flrft 
pope, and held his pontificate 33 years, and almoft 3 months — 
Peter was Chrift's vicar, fecond pontiff of Rome, and held the fee 
25 years— Jefus Chrift appointed the bifhop of Rome for the 
time being to fucceed Peter, and Linus was the third pope." — 
When they fay fuch things they deferve pity for their ignorance 
and abfuraity: but when they go farther, and make their pre- 
tended fucceflion a plea for their do£hine and worfhip, they me- 
rit the fevereft cenfure. 

y 2 



( 172 ) 



You may aifo remark the wifdom of the apoftles, 
When they were contemned for their meannefs, they 
exalted themfelves by their tre afire, and called them- 
felves fervants of Jems Chrift, ambaffadors of God, 
&c. they magnified their office, (as S. Paul fpeaks.) 
on proper oceafions: but, when the excellence of their 
miniftry was likely to make them overtrained, they 
humbled, and as it were annihilated themfelves, calling 
themfelves earthen vejels. When Paul and Barna- 
bas were driven from Iconium, and fled to Lyftra, 
to mew the glory of their miniftry they wrought a 
miracle ; but when the people took them for gods, 
they tore their garments, and cried, we are men. 

Prdreed now to the fecond part of the text, and ex- 
amine two things, i. The excellence of the power 
of the gofpel, 2. The defign of God in putting fuch 
a treafure into earthen veflels, that the excellence of 
that power might be of him an dnot of men, 

1. The excellence of this power is, ! , the happy 
fuccefs of the Gofpel in the converfon of men, which 
may be reprefented as a victorious and triumphant 
power, and even as an excelling, that is, a prevailing 
and almighty energy. Here you may remark the ex- 
tenfive fuccefs of thr gofpel, and how, in a very lit- 
tle time, the whole earth was filled with chriftian 
converts. You may add the difficulties, which the 
gofpel furmounted ; it rofe above obftacles within, 
the natural corruption of men, prejudices of birth 
and education, love of falfe religions, &c, obftacles 
without, contradictions of philofophers, perfecutions 
of Jews, calumnies on the gofpel and its minifters, 
perfecutions of kings and magiftrates, &c. obftacles 
in the Gofpel ilfelf which exhibited one, who was 
crucified, fooliflonefs to the Greeks, an da fumbling- 



( ns ) 



block to the Jews. Yet, notwithftanding all thefe dif- 
ficulties, converfions abounded in eveiy place. 

3. The excellence of this power confifts in that 
admirable and divine virtue , which is in the do Brine 
of the Go/pel, to humble man, to comfort, inftrudfc, 
exhilarate, and embolden him, to fill him with faith 
and hope, to change and fanSify him, and, in one 
word, to convert and transform him into another 
man. 

4. The excellence of this power confifts in the 
miracles, which accompanied the preaching of the 
apoftles. Thefe miracles were great and worthy 
of all admiration. They healed the fick, they raifed 
the dead, they foretold future events, &c. 

5. The excellence of this power confifts in the ener* 
gy of the Holy Ghoft, which accompanied the preach- 
ing of the Gofpel. He was a fpirit of illumination, 
a fpirit of patience, a fpirit of peace, &c. and even 
with extraordinary gifts did he accompany the word, 
with the gift of tongues, &c. * 

Having explained the excellence of this power, 
go on to fhew the end, that God propofed, which. 

* cc The excellence of the gofpel confifts In its own intrinfic 
truth and purity; it was powerfully accompanied with miracles, 
it was impreiTed by the holy fpirit on the minds and hearts of 
jnen, and it iflued in their fan&ification.'' No affiftance was de- 
rived from pompous ceremonies, nor from penal fan&ions, nor 
was there any mention of oaths, fubfcriptions, fines, imprifon- 
ments, or death. A foreign profefTor of divinity derives all the 
errors, that have debafed chriftianity, from three fources, which 
he calls enthufiafm — naturalijm — and love of dominion over con- 
fciences. The fir ft introduces virions, dreams, revelations, my- 
ftic divinity, &c. The fecond produces Arianifm, Socinianifm, 
Arminianifm, &c. The third brings forth the whole farrago of 
popery. Againft all thefe the fmall ftill voice of the Gofpel 
pleads ; againft thefe it has pleaded with fuccefs in all ages ; and 
over all thefe, we humbly hope, it will gain a final victory. 
Leydecheri Veritas Evangel, Triumphant, lib. i, 



( 17* ) 



was, that this power might appear to be of him, and 
not of men ; for this reafon did he put this treafure 
into earthen veffels. S. Paul's reafoning proceeds 
upon this principle ; that men are inclined to afcribe 
to fecond caufes, effects, which belong only to the 
firft caufe. Whenever we fee any great event, which 
dazzles us, inftead of elevating our thoughts to God, 
and giving him the glory, we meanly link into 
creature-attachments, as if the event were to be af- 
cribed to inftraments. This appears, 

1. By the example of the heathens, who, feeing 
the marvels of nature, worf dipped and ferved the 
creature more than the Creator ; with which S. Paul 
reproaches them. Beholding the fun, and the af- 
tonifhing effects, which it produced in the world, 
they rofe no higher, they took it for a god, not con- 
fidering that it was only a fervant, and an image of 
God the invifible fun. 

2. This appears by the Lycaonians, of whom we 
juft now fpoke, who, feeing Paul and Barnabas work 
a miracle, would fain have facrificed to them as to 
gods, not confidering that they were only mftruments 
of the infinite power, which reigns in the world. 

3. This appears ftill farther by the example of 
the Jews, who, although they were inftru&ed in the 
knowledge of. the true God, yet when they faw Pe- 
ter and John reft ore a cripple, crowded about them, 
and obliged thofe apoftles to fay to them, Ye men of 
Ifrael, why marvel ye at this ? or why look ye fo 
earnefly on us, as though by our own power or holinefs 
we had made this man to walk ? 

4. 1 his appears even by the example of S. John, 
who, all apoftle as he was, fuffered himfelf to be fur- 
prized by this imprudent inclination. So natural is it 



( US ) 

to ail mankind ! * Being dazzled with the glory of 
the angel, who talked with him, he fell proftrate be- 
fore him, and would have adored him, had not the 
angel corrected his folly by faying, See thou do it not; 
for I am thy fellovo-fervant, worfhip God. 

And, after all thefe fad examples, we ftill fee the 
fame fpirit of idolatry in the church of Rome; -f for 

* An inclination to idolatry is natural to all mankind. If i- 
dolatry confift in a transferring of that confidence, love, fear, 
hope, and honour to creatures, which are due to God alone, I 
fear, our author has too much reafon for :his affertion. 

* We fee a fpirit of idolatry in the church of Rome. Mod 
proteftants tax the Roman church with idolatry : but the Ro- 
man catholics deny the charge. The dodrine of a community, 
we own, ought not to be taken from the writings of individuals 
in that community : but from public, profefied articles of faith, 
and from allowed fervice-books ; from thefe, however, evidence 
enough may be taken to make good the charge, Thomas Aquinas 
thought, images were to be worfhipped with fuch honours as 
the objecls which they reprefented, merited. According to him, 
an image of Jefus Chrift deferved the fame adoration, that Je- 
fus Chrift himfelf claimed. Other fchoolmen, among whom 
were Durand, Robert Holcot> Gabriel Biel> and others, denied 
this kind of adoration to images. See Cajfandri Confult. de Imag. 

Although the Roman clergy differ about the kind of ador- 
ation due to images, and although the whole church denies the 
charge of idolatry : yet, all allow, the worshipping of images, 
and faints, and angels, is the profeffed practice of the church of 
Rome. They endeavour to juftify the worfhip, and to deny the 
idolatry of it, by diftinguilhing fubordinate from fupreme wor- 
fhip, the one they call I atria, the other dulia: but this diftinction, 
as numbers of proteftants have proved, is vain, futile, and nu- 
gatory. " I will not put the queftion, fays Monf. Claude, whe- 
ther the diftin&ion be good or bad, it is fufficient to fay, it has 
the ill fate to fall in with that, which the ancient heathens ufed, 
for the defence of thofe adorations, which they paid to their 
genii, to their heroes, to their demi, and inferior gods." Monj« 
Claude x Defence of the Reformation, part i. ch. $.f. 7. 

One of our beft writers on this fubjecl has proved, —that /- 
dolatry is the main character of that apoftacy, which St Paul 
foretold; 1 Tim. iv. 1, 2— that pagan-idolatry could not be in- 
tended by the apoftle — that the apoftacy con filled in introducing 
the doctrine of demons— tlwt m the pagan theology demons were 



( 176 ) 

thence proceed the adorations of relics, faints, angels, 
and I know not how many other fuperftitions, which 
attach them to creatures, imagining that by their 
means they receive fome particular bleffing. 

God, then, in order to Item this torrent, and to 
preclude fuch an abufe of his apoftles, left men 
ihould attribute the marvellous effects of the gofpel- 
doftrine to them, was pleafed to attemper the honour 
which he put upon them by employingthem to con- 
vert mankind, with the meannefs and frailty of their 
condition. He fuffered them to appear earthe?i vef> 
fehj as they really were, in order that their duft and 
afhes; their weakneffes and imperfe&ions, might 
ferve for a corrective, or a counterpoife to the glory 
of fuch great and admirable miniftry: 

Moreover, it is certain, their meannefs very much 
contributed to difplay the glory of the divine power 
in the work of the Gofpel, and fully to convince 
mankind, that the power was only of God. Never 
does God appear more confpicuous, than when he 
ufes inftruments, which have no proportion to the 
work, that they perform. Never did the divine power 
appear more glorious, than when it abafed the pride 
of Pharaoh and all Egypt by the fimple rod of Mo- 
fes. Had the Lord employed armies, however won- 
derful the fuccefs had been, human power would have 
diminifhed the divine fplendor. Never did this power 
of God appear more than in the ruin of Jericho, the 
walls of which fell at the bare found of Jofhua's 

a middle fort of beings between the fovereign gods and mortal 
men—that the manner of worfhipping demons, and of retaining 
their prefence, was by confecrated images and pillars — that thefe 
doctrines concerning demons were revived, and, are re-afTembled 
in the church of Rome — that praying to faints as mediators, and 
agents for us with God, is idolatry. Mede's Apojlacy of the latter 
2 imes. See. Te-nifirfs &. xi. xii. chapters on Idolatry . 



( 177 ) 



ramVhorns. Apply to this the words of Monf. 
Cappel in his Thefts, " Never did the power of 
Jefus Chrift appear more, than when he fubjugated 
principalities and powers, ana triumphed over them 
by the miniflry of the crofs." The triumphs of the 
Gofpel are the fame. Sinners, tax-gatherers, tent- 
makers, ignorant and illiterate people, * without let- 
ters, without arms, without power, without intrigues, 
without human help, without philofophy, without 
eloquence ; contemptible, perfecuted people, in one 
word, earthen vejjels, triumphed over the whole 
world with the found of their voice. Idols fell ; tem- 
ples were demolifhed ; oracles ftruck dumb ; the 
reign of the devil aboliihed ; the ftrongeft inclina- 
tions of nature diverted from their courfe ; people's 
ancient habits changed ; old fuperftitions annihilated; 
all the devil's charms, wherewith he had ftupified 
mankind, were diffolved ; people flocked in crouds 
to adore Jefus Chrift ; the great and the fmall, the 
learned and the ignorant, kings and fubje&s, whole 
provinces, prefented themfelves at the foot of the 
crofs, and every thought was captivated to the obe- 
dience of Chrift : It is not enough to fay, This is the 
jinger of God ; we muft rather exclaim, 1 his is the 
outflretched arm of the Lord! O happy earthen vejfels! 
glory in that ye were only duft and allies, your weak- 
nefs, brittlenefs, and nothingnefs, difplay a thoufand 
times more the glory of the great matter, who em- 
ployed you, than the greateft dignity could have dif- 

* The apoftles were ignorant and illiterate. Although, we 
allow, the apoitles wexeilliternte^ yet we do not grant tliey were 
ignorant men : on the contrary, we afFirm, they were men of fine 
natural abilities, which, had they been cultivated in early life, 
would have been without infpiration equal to thofe of any of 
their contemporaries. The primitive christians were all taxed 
with ignorance bv their enemies. 

z 



( 178 ) 



played it, had ye been golden veffels, angels or che~ 
rubims, dominions or thrones ! 

Obferve, farther, there are two forts of explica- 
tions. The firft is fimple, and plain, and needs only 
to be propofed, and enlivened with clear and agree- 
able elucidations. 

The other kind of explications muft not only be 
ftated and explained : but they muft alfo be confirm- 
ed by fufficient evidence. Sometimes a text fpeaks 
of a facl, which can be confirmed only by proofs of 
fact. Sometimes it is a matter of right, that muft be 
eftablifhed by proofs of right. And fometimes it 
is a fubjecl:, made up oiboth fact and right, and con- 
fequently proofs of right, as well as proofs of fact, 
rnuft be adduced. We will give an example of 
each. 

For the firft, take this text, Phil. ii. 6. Jefus Chrijl 
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to 
be equal with God. Having explained what it is to 
be in the form of God, and to count it not robbery to 
be equal with God, namely, that it is to be God, ef- 
fentially equal with the Father, and co-eternal with 
him, &c. you muft needs make ufe of proofs of facl 
on this occafion ; for, every one fees, it is a fad', 
which it is neceflary to prove, not merely by the 
force of S. Paul's terms : but alfo by many other 
Scripture-proofs, which eftablifh the divinity of Jefus 
Chrift. * 

* Jefus Chrijl was in the form of God. The Socinians have 
taken unwearied pains with this text, and fubvert the fenfe of it 
entirely by rendering it thus. " Jefus being in the form of God, 
committed not robbery, by equalling himfelf with God, or, 
thought not of the robbery of being equal with God" Life of 

We have three principal objections to this reading, i . It does 
not agree with the [cope of the apofile, St Paul is fpeaking of the 



( 1*9 ) 



But were you to preach from the 14th and 15th 
verfes of the fame chapter, Do all things without 
murmurings^ and'difputings ; that ye may be blamelefs 
and harmlefs, the fons of God without rebuke in the 
raidjl of a crooked a fid per v erf e nation , among whom 
ye fine as lights in the world: holding forth the word 
of life; it is evidenr, that, after you have explained 
the vices, which S. Paul forbids, and the virtues, 
which he recommends, the exhortation muft be con- 
firmed by reafons of right , which mew how un- 
worthy and contrary to our calling thefe vices are ; 
how much beauty and propriety in the virtues en- 
joined; and how ftrong our obligations are to abftain 
from the one, and to pradtife the other. 

Our third example includes proofs of loth kinds. 
Take the 7th verfe of the fame chapter, Jefus Chrifl 
made himfelf of no reputation, and took upon him the 
form of a fervant, and was made in the Ukenefs of 
men : (* ) or the 8th verfe, And being found in 
fafdion as a man, he humbled himfelf and became obe- 
dient to the deathofthe crofs: or the 9th verfe, which 
fpeaks of ChrirYs exaltation. Having explained 
the fubject, you muft endeavour to confirm it, not 
only by proofs of fact, but alfo by proofs of right ; 
to which purpofe you muft prove, 1. That the fact 
is, as S. Paul fays. And 2. That it ought to be y as 
it is, by reafons taken from the wifdom of God, &c. 

In like manner in difcuffing this text, Whom the 

humility of Chrift. What proof of humility is it in a creature not 
to equal himfelf with God ? 2. It does not agree with the usual 
manner of expreffing the idea in this reading by other writers. 
The patrons of this verfion therefore are obliged to quit the 
Greek idiom, and to try to find a Latin parallel. 3. It is incon- 
fiftant with the antithefis. Form of God, and firm of a fervant, 
areof fimilar import. If the one ftands for real humanity, the 
other muft be put for true divinity. 



( ISO ) 



Lord loveib he cbajlenetb, and fcourgetb every fun 
whom be receiveth; after you have picpcfed ina 
few words the apoftle's docTrine, it ought to be con- 
firmed, * as well by proofs of fa£t, which make it 

* Afteryou have propofed a doctrine, you muft confirm it. 
This appears to me one of the moft important rules in this efiay; 
for, if every chriftian ought to be ready to render a reafin for 
the hope, that is in him, how much more requisite is it for an 
intelligent teacher of a rational religion to recommend his doc- 
trine to reafonable hearers by found, folid argumentation ? Pc- 
fitive affertions, however accredited by the voice, gefture, zeal, 
and vehemence of a preacher, make no impreffions on his wifer 
hearers, while they who are infenfible to every thing elfe, are 
carried away with evidence. I have heard of an enthufialt, who, 
after he had withltocd promifes and penalties, was reduced by 
reafoning to the fad neceffity of obftinately exclaiming, Argu- 
ment ! Argument ! The Lord rebuke thee, Argument ! 

Pagan rhetoricians all agree in making evidence eflential to 
perfuafion. Ariftotle, who makes an oration confift of four parts, 
Quintilian, who makes five y and Cicero, who makes ' Jix, agree 
in calling confirmation one part. Narration ftates the matter, and 
gives the hearer to understand what the orator is fpeaking of. 
Confirmation informs the auditor why he ought to believe what 
the fpeaker has been narrating. The firfl informs the underfiand- 
zng s the laft addrelTes the will. Each has a different object,, and 
both are efTential to rational conviction. 

Vitringa gives us an example of this way of difcuffing a fub- 
jeer, from John iv. 24. God is a Jpirit. This doctrine muff firft 
be clearly Jlated by removing every grofs material notion of the 
fupreme Being ; and by giving as jult ideas of his attributes as 
can be given. Then the truth of this idea of God muft be c. n- 
firmed by folid proof. The fubjecl: would admit of very laborious, 
refined, and accurate reafoning ; but, as it is a popular notion, 
that only faiihood requires long and laborious reafoning-, (which, 
by the way, is not true ) the preacher, who would edify his 
hearers, muft yield to this prejudice, and muft reduce his rea- 
foning, if poilible, to a level with the capacities of the loweft of 
Ills people. 

His transition from the demonflrative to the pathetic and prac- 
tical part of this fubjecl is, I think, very natural, and therefore 
very beautiful. i But is it fumcient, think ye, my hearers ! to 
affent to the truth of this proportion in my text, God is not mat- 
ter: but f pi r it ? Is it enough to believe, that he is a wife, a good, 
an eternal fpirit ? By no means. Let us approach a mirror, that 
gives us the melt perfedl image of this adorable fpirit. Let 



( 181 ) 



plain, that God has always been pleafed to oblerve 
this method, as by proofs of right, which mew that 
he does thus with a great deal of wiidom. * You will 
meet with an aimoft infinite number of texts of this 
nature.* 

There are fometimes texts of explication^ in which 
we are obliged to explain feme one great and impor- 
tant article confirming of many branches. As for ex- 
ample, predeftination ; and efficacious, converting 
grace. *f In this cafe you may either reduce the mat- 

# 

us paufe, and contemplate the object, and try whether we can- 
ned derive fome ufeful knowledge from it. If God be a fpirit, 
none but fpiritual men can hold communion with him." &c» 
" Here : . adds he, the preacher may defcribe the fcripturally fpi- 
ritual man" Here then the preacher enters the confidence, 
comes home to the heart, condemns all inordinate paffions as in- 
continent with communion with a holy God, and excites thofe 
graces, by which men hold fellowship with him, Vitringe Objer- 
vat. Sac. torn. li. Method, Homiietica, par. ii. cap. vi. De applica- 
tion e. 

* Many texts require proofs of fact, and right." Monf. Sau- 
rin (oil Ohrift's divinity. Rev. v. n, j 2, 13,14.) ufes this me- 
thod. " jefus Chriit is fupremely adored by intelligences the 
moft w r ori.hy of imitation. He is fupremely adorable ; is a 
queftion of righr He is fupremely adored ;is a queftion of 
fact. 1. The queftion of right is decided by the idea, which 
Scripture gives us of Tefus Chrift. It attributes three things to 
him, which muft be ppofed in an object of fupreme adoration : 
r. An eminence f : perfections. Eternity, Immenfity, Omni- 
fcienc?, occ. 2, That fupreme bounty, that fovereign commu- 
nication, that inLma ; e relation to our happinefs, which is a fe- 
cond title of adoration. 3. An empire over the creatures. ~ 
The firft of thefe requires the adoration of our mind. The fe 1 - 
cond of our heart- The third of our life- The queftion of 
fact. That Jefus Chrift is fupremely adored by intelligences the 
moft worthy of being modeis to us, is anfwered by Stephen, 
A£ts vii. 59. By the angels in the text 3 &c. &c, Saurin Sen 
torn. lU f. quatrieme. 

f c< Sometimes we are obliged to explain predeftination." 
There were fome in Auguftine's time, who believed — that all 



( 182 } 



ter to a certain number of propofitlons^ and difcufs 
them one after another ; or you may reduce them to 
a certain number of quejllons^ and difcufs them in like 

men finned in Adam— that man was not faved by good works : 
but by the regenerating grace of God — that falvation by Jefus 
Chrift was propofed to all men — that whoever believed in him, 
and obeyed him, mould be faved— and that fuch people were 
chofen of God to eternal felicity. On thefe principles, they 
fuppofed the preaching of predestination unedifying, and even 
difcouraging t© their hearers ; and turned all their attention to 
the producing of faith and repentance in them. Profper and 
Hilary confulted St Auftinon this fubjecT:, and he wrote his an- 
fwer in two books, the one entitled De Pradeftinatione^ the other 
De Dono P erf ever antix. The fum feems to be— that the Holy 
Ghoft had revealed the do&rine of predeftination— that Chrift 
and his apoftles taught it — that it naturally tended to fubdue the 
pride of man— that it excited gratitude and love to God— that 
it inflamed men with zeal for morality— and that therefore it 
ought to be preached. However, it ought to be preached wife* 
fy.— It mould not be preached indiscriminately, and carelefly to 
thofe, who perhaps would not underftand, and therefore would 
abule it. — People fhould not be told, Do what ye will, if ye be 
predeftinated, ye mail be faved. — Nor mould they be told, that 
their acceptance of grace puts them into the number of the e- 
lect — We mould rather pray for their converfion ; for perhaps 
they, who have not yet believed, may be in the number of the 
elecl:— they mould be directed to run, and aflured that they mall 
obtain. — And in fhort, the prefcience of God mould be fo 
preached as never to indulge the idlenefs of men : but on the 
contrary, to excite them to aclion. 

Some pious men, who believe predeftination, cannot reconcile 
the preaching of Jefus Chrift to all men indiscriminately with it; 
much lefs can they addrefs to them thofe convincing arguments, 
thofe powerful demonstrations, thofe tender expoftulations, thofe 
authoritative calls, in a word, that moral fualion, with which 
Scripture abounds. They can only preach the Goipel to the 
ele£t, in the hearing of the reprobate. To thefe we may juftly 
addrefs not the jingling language, but the found fentiment of a 
father. Quje Deus occulta efle voluit, non funt fcrutanda ; qu*e 
autem manifefta funt, non funt neganda, ne in illis illicite curio- 
fi, in his damnabiliter inveniamur ingrati. Ambrof De Vocat. 
Getitil. cap. 7. 

Some have even fcrupled to pray for the converfion of infi- 
dels, led they mould pray for the non-ele£t and others have 
Ventured to afhrm, that all the Scriptures are addrefTed to 



( iM ) 



manner : * but you ought (choofe which way yoti 
will,) to take particular care not to lay down any pro 
pofition, or any queftion, which is not formally con- 
tained in your text, or which does not follow by a 

good men, and not a word dire&ed to the unregenerate. The 
la ft ieem incorrigible : but to the former, we would beg leave to 
propofe four queftions. 

1. Can an unknown decree be a rule of action to us ? Deut. xxix. 
29. Prov. ii. 13. 

2. Is not the chriftian minifter's commifiion to preach the 
Gofpel to every creature I Mark xvi. 15. 

3. Did not infpired writers perfuade men ? 2 Cor. v. 11, A£ts 
xxviii. 23. xxvi. 28. 

4. Has not a general addrefs to men's confciences been great- 
ly fuccefsful in the converfion of fmners? A6ts ii. 23. 36, 37, 
38.40,41. 

* " You may reduce your text to a number of propofitions." 
The following example feems to me juft and beautiful. The 
text is Numb. xxiv. 11. (t I thought to promote thee to great 
honour : but lo ! the Lord hath kept thee back from honour* 
After making an exordium of the hiftory, the preacher lays 
down thefepropofitions. 

1. That the generality of fuperiors, by a ft retch of their au- 
thority, are willing to demand illegal and unwarrantable things 
of ecclefiaftical perlons. 

2. That the method and artifice, by which they think to pre- 
vail over mercenary men, is the fpecious offer of preferment and 
honour. 

3. That the common way to worldly grandeur is to ftudy 
the tempers, and conform to the principles of thofe, who are in 
a condition to oblige us with them. 

4. That plain dealing is the ufual bar and impediment to a 
good man's advancement. 

5. That it is ftill the duty of a good man, notwithftanding 
the allurements and temptations of this world, to a£t agreeably 
to his confcience, and the laws of his God. 

6. That a perfon who acts thus impartially betweenthe com- 
mands of his prince and the dictates of his confcience will find 
infinite comfort and fatisfa&ion, although he mifles thofe advan- 
tages, which flatterers and temporizers may gain for the prefent. 
Dr Coney s Sermon before the Univerftty of Oxford, 1 710. Honefy 
and plain-dealing an ufual bar to honour and preferment. 

Sometimes the nature of a text requires both propofition and 
queftion. Heb. xi. 1. " Faith is the fubftance of things hoped 
for, the evidence of things not feen." It would not be irapro- 



( 184 ) 



near and eafy confequencej* forotherwife you would 
difcufs the matter in a common-place way.-f- 

per to affirm, I. that there are invihble objects of faith and 
Hope and, 2 to enquire how faith gives a fubftance, and an 
evidence to things not feen ? This method is proper, when one 
part of a text is clear and evident, and the other difficult ; affir- 
mation is proper in the fir ft, and enquiry in the laft. Thus one 
of our old divines on Mat, x. 29. 30. u 1. I will defcribe pro- 
vidence. 2. I will prove that all events are guided by it. 3. 
1 will anfwer fome doubts concerning it." Bijhop Hopkins on 
Providence. 

* t( Lay down no proportion, which is not formally con- 
tained in the text, or eafily inferred from it." Let us try the 
following example. 2 Tim. iv. 11. 0?ily Luke is with me, 
" The Holy Ghoft, fays the preacher, hath erected this facred 
monument, even the text, in which St Luke's chrijiian valour 
his unparallelled conftancy, his mutual correfpondency, with St Paul, 
are ail engraven in fuch characters, as that neither time nor 
envy will be ever able to obliterate, for only Luke is with me. 
The words are an entire proposition, whereof St Luke is the fub- 
jecl:. — St Paul (who is understood in the pronoun me) is the 
predicate. The Copula, that unites both, is conftancy, included 
in the phrafe only is." That the friendfhip, the courage, and the 
conftancy of thefe two eminent men may be collected from the 
whole hiftory of their mutual labours, we allow : but that either 
of thefe is derivable from the text, we deny. W ere we to fup- 
pofe, for a moment, that we had nothing remaining of the hifto- 
ry of Luke's knowledge of St Paul but this text, could we in- 
deed allure ourfelves that Luke the evangelift was intended— that 
he was with Paul yefterday — that he would be with him to- 
morrow—that he was with him of neceffity or of choice — that 
he poffefled qualities to render him worthy of the friendftiip of 
St Paul? &c In all fuch fermons as thefe, preachers derived 
much from other places juftly, more from their own conjectures 
fancifully, and generally very little from their texts. When a 
man would know what is in his text, he ihould fuppofe the 
text the whole of his inform ution. Jennets Sermon on the Life and 
Death of St Luke, preached at Great St Mary % Cambridge, 
1676. 

* c< Avoid a common-place way of preaching, and explain 
the fubjec~t." The beft way of proving the truth of religion is 
to explain it juftly ; as it carries its own evidence along with it, 
when we reprefent it in its native purity. — There is no art, nor 
fcience, that is not taught coherently by principles and method, 
in a connected train of inftru&ions. Religion is the only thing 



( 185 ) 



For example. // is God, who worketh effeclually 
in you both to will and to do of his ozvn good pleafure* 
After you have explained what it is to will, and 
what to do, and have obferved in a fevi r words, that 
St Paul's meaning is, that God is the author of both 
in us by the power of his grace ; you may reduce 
the whole explication of the operation of this grace 
to five or fix propofitions. i. God by his holy fpi- 
rit illuminates the understandings of men ; for work- 
ing in us to will muft neceffarily be by illuminating 
the underftanding. 2. That operation of grace, 
which illuminates the underftanding, is practical, and 
not barely fpeculative; but defcends even to the 
heart. St Paul fays, God ivorks in us to do. 3. 
The jirft difpofitions to converfion are effects of grace 
as well as converfion itfelf, for St Paul not only fays, 
God worketh in us to do; but he adds, he worketh 
in us to will; now this will confifls in difpofitions to 
converfion. 4. This operation of grace does not 
confift in putting us in a ftate capable of converting 
ourfelves, as the admirers of fufficient grace fay ; but 
it actually converts us ; for the apoftle fays, God 
worketh in us to will and to do 5. The operation 
of this grace, which converts us, is of victorious effi^ 
cacy, and obtains its end in fpite of all the refiftances 
of nature ; for St Paul fays, God effeclually worketh 
in us to will and to do ; which means, that when he 
difplays this grace, nothing can refift him. 6. When 

that is not taught thus to chriftians. In their childhood they 
have a little dry catechifm put into their hands, which they learn 
by rote, without underftanding the fenfe of it. And after that 
they have no other inftrucUon but what they can gather from 
fermons upon unconnected general fubjefts, I would, there- 
fore, have preachers teach people the iirft principles of their re- 
ligion: and by a due method lead them on to the kigkej} myfteri s of 
it, Camhrafs Dialogues on Eloquence ' 3 Dial* 3. 



( 186T ) 

God converts us, whatever irrefiftibility there is 
in his grace,he difplays it neverthelefs in us in a way 9 
which neither deftroys our nature, nor offers any vi- 
olence to our will ; for St Paul fays, God worketh in 
us to will; that is to fay, he converts us by infpiring 
us with love for his Gofpel in gentle ways fuited to 
the faculties of our fouls* 

Above all, take care to arrange your propofi- 
tions well, when you take this method. Place the 
moft general firft, and follow the order of our know- 
ledge, fo that the firft propofition may ferve as fteps 
to the fecond, the fecond to the third, and fo of the 
reft. * 

* Arrange your proportions well. Nothing elucidates afub- 
ject more than a conformity to this rule. Strictly fpeaking, 
this belongs to the logician ; but it is fo efTential to perfuafion 
that orators always make arrangement, or difpofition a part of 
rhetorick. 

Example of a confufed arrangement, i. John iii. i. Behold 
what manner of love the Father hath beftowed upon us, that 
we mould be called the fons of God. The preacher divides 
the text into five parts, i . The kind of love, what manner 
of love. 2. The author of it, the Father. 3. The freenefs of 
it, hath beftowed. 4. The effects, that we Ihould be called 
the fons of God. 5. The adverb of demonftration, behold* 
This 'divifion is trite and trifling. The principal objecT: in con- 
templation is adoption, which the preacher mould have explain- 
ed. The apoitle's difpofition of mind in confidering it is the 
next article : he is holily aftoniftied at that profufion of divine 
love, which was difplayed in it. The preacher might eafily 
have proved, illuftrated, and applied this to his hearers. Thefe 
two parts contain the whole text. Dr Gibbe's Sermons. Ser. 

XXV. 

Here follows a. fecond example. 1 Pet. iii. 13, Who h 
he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that, which is 
good. This fubjecl: is divided into fix parts. 1. The good 
that is to be followed. 2. How it is to be followed. 3. What 
is the harm, which they who follow that which is good, are 
fecured from. 4. From whdfe harming the fecurity is. 5. 
W r hen they are fecured. 6. Why they are fecured. This dog- 
trot divifron is vicious*, for fome of the laft articles are con- 
tained in the firft i nor does it give the- meaning of the apQ- 



( 137 ) 



Sometimes, what you have to explain in a text 
will confift of one or more fimple terms. Sometimes 
in certain ways of fpeaking peculiar to Scripture, or 
at leaft of fuch great importance, that they will de- 
ferve to be particularly weighed and explained. 
Sometimes in particles which they call fyncatego- 
rematica. And fometimes in propofitions. For 
ex2imip\e,Jimpfe terms are the divine attributes, good- 
nefs, mercy, wifdom, &c. The virtues of men, faith, 
hope, love, &c. Their vices and paffions, ambition, 
avarice, vengeance, wrath, &c. In fhort, fimple 
terms are fmgle words, and they are either proper^ 
or figurative. In order to explain figurative words, 
you muft give the .meaning of the figure in a few 
words, and without flopping long upon the figure 

{lie. The defign of St Peter is to affirm, that, let chriftians fuf- 
fer what they may, yet, on the whole, their advantages being 
greater than their difadvantages, they receive no real lofs ; but 
acquire much gain. The following verfes are full to thispur- 
pofe. This fubjecl: therefore ought to be difcufTed in two ge- 
neral propofitions. i. A chriftian is a follower of that which 
is good. His principles and his practices tend to the good of 
himfelf — of his family— of his neighbourhood — of his church— 
of his country-^— of the whole world. 2. No man can harm 
fuch a perfon. No pious man will attempt to do it. No po- 
litic legiflators will do it. No prudent head of a family will 
do It. If wicked men aim at it, they cannot do it, for chri- 
ftians have a good caufe — a good conscience — a powerful pro- 
tector — a rich reward — and all out of the reach of men. Gibbe's 
Ser. xx. 

It would be unjuft to this author, not to add an example or 
two of clear arrangement. 

Pfal. cxxx. 4. " There is forgivenefs with thee, that thou 
mayeft be feared." 1. There is forgivenefs with God, 2. For- 
givenefs engageth penitence to venerate God. Ser. x. 

Heb. iv. 7. (< To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
your hearts." 1. The Gofpel is the voice of God. 2. The 
Gofpel deferves an hearing. 3. The Gofpel ought to be heard 
j to day. 4. If we would hear the Gofpel profitably, we muft 
1 not harden our hearts. Sex xii. 



( 188 ) 

pafs to the thing itfelf. * And in general obferve 
this rule, never injijl long on a Jimple terrn^ unlefs it 
be abfolutely necejfary; for to aim at exhaufting (as it 
were) and faying, all that can be faid on a fingle 
word is imprudent in a preacher, efpeciaily when 
there are many important matters in the text to be 
explained. Should any one (for example) in ex-^ 
plaining thefe words of Ifaiah, His name fhall be cal- 
led Wonderful, Counfellor, the Mighty God, the 
Everlajling Father, the Prince of Peace, mould a 
preacher, I fay, infift on each term, and endeavour 
to exhauft each word, he would handle the text in a 
common-place way and quite tire the hearer. You 
ought, then, in difcuffing fuch palfages, to feleft the 

* In figurative texts, give the meaning of the figure in a 
few words, and pafs to the fubjetT itfelf. The violations of 
this rule are endlefs, and they belong not to figures of fpeech 
only: but alfo to idioms, proverbs, &c. Here follows an ex- 
ample of each from a learned Jefuit, (i Rev. i. 12. I turned 
to fee the voice, St John does not fay to hear : but to fee the 
voice. This fignifies that preachers are no make their doc- 
trine vifibie by their pra&ice*" Idle reflection! St John heard 
a found 5 and he turned to fee the trumpet or the perfon from 
whom the found proceeded- It is a figure, either a metaphor 
or a metonymy. It has nothing to do with the lives of preach- 
ers. 

To the fame fubjecl our author applies Mat. xxiii- 4- "The 
Pharifees lay heavy burdens on men's moulders: but they them- 
felves will not move them with one of their fingers." This is 
a proverb, and it is trifling to explain how minifters move bur- 
dens with the fingers of a holy life. The general fenfe fhould 
be taken. 

In the fame manner he explains the ufual phrafe, the Lord 
fpake by the hand of fuch and fuch a prophet. 1 Kings xiv. 
18. That is, fays he, by the holy life, which is the hand of a 
prophet. This is aHebraifm, an idiom. Examples are endlefs. 
Some let in errors by thefe doors, and others, who derive only 
truths from the paflages, are guilty of iiterary inaccuracies, and 
fetvery bad examples, dangerous to others, if harmlefs to them- 
felyes, Labata Apparat. Concion. 



( 139 ) 



mod obvious articles, and to enlarge principally on 
effential remarks. * 

Sometimes there are fimple terms, of which you 
muft only take notice curforily, and en pajfant, as 
it were, juft as they relate to the intention of the 
facred author -f . For example, in St Paul's ordi- 

* Enlarge on the molt obvious articles. The more pains (fays 
the Archbifhop of Cambray,) the more pains an haranguer 
takes to dazzle me by the artifices of his difcourfe, tlae more 
I fhould defpife his vanity. — I love a ferious preacher, who 
fpeaks for my fake, and not for his own : who feeks my falva- 
tion, and not his own vain-glory. — I would have him naturally 
a man of good fenfe, and to reduce all he fays to good fenfe 
as the.ftandard of his difcourfe. His ftudies mould be folid: he 
{hould apply himfelf to reafon juftly ; and induftrioufly avoid 
all fubtil and over-refined notions. He mould diftruft his ima- 
gination-, and not let it influence his judgment. He mould 
ground every difcourfe upon fome evident principle, and from that 
draw the molt obvious and natural confequences. Letter to the 
French Academy, fed:. 4. 

* Some fimple terms require only a curfory explanation. 
Thus, for example, Rom. ix. 1. "I fay the truth in Chrifl. 
It would be abfurd here to go about explaining each term, 
the evident meaning is, I fpeak the truth as a chriftian. 
I fpeak, as a chriftian ought always to fpeak, very fincere- 
ly. 

Again, verfe 3. " I could wifh that myfelf were accurfedfrom 
Chrift." To be in Chrift, in the ftyle of St. Paul, is to be a chri- 
ftian, a member of a chriftian church; and to be anathematized, 
©r accurfed from Chrift is to be excommnnicated or feparated 
from a chriftian church. See Bibliot. Anc et Mod. pour l'an 5 
17 14. torn. i. 

Werea man to preach from the flrft of thefe paflages, he 
ought to difmifs the latter in fome fuch manner, as that above- 
mentioned, and to difcufs the meaning of the apoftie in fuch a 
propofition as this, Speaking truth is efTential to the chriftian 
character. 

Were he to preach from the laft, he might include the fenfe 
in this propofition, chriftians in fome circumftances are to be 
commended for fubmitting to unjuft cenfures. 

It is very pomble for an expofitor to give the exact fenfe 
of every word in a text, and yet to mifs the true fenfe of 

V. 



( 190 ) 



nary falutations, Grace be to you, and peace from 
God our Father, and from our Lord Jefus Ckrifl, 
it muft not be imagined, that each of the terms or 
phrafes, is to be confidered ex profeffo, either grace, 
or peace, or God the Father, or Jefus Chrfi: but 
the whole text is to be confidered as ^falutation, a 
benediction, an introduction to the epiftle, and in 
thefe views make neceiTary remarks on the terms. 
Obferve the method of Monf. Daille in his exposi- 
tions of the Epiftles to the Philippians and Coiof- 
fians. * In one word^ take care to explain fimple 

the whole text made up of thefe words* I could give 
examples of fermons, in w hich this has been done : but per- 
haps it is needlefs to introduce thefe venders of bagatelles at 
prefent. 

St Jerom, who is frequently inconfiftent with himfelf fays, 
in one place, " All words, fyllables, accents, and points, in holy 
Scripture, are full of meaning." He was led into this error 
by the words, which he was explaining. They are thefe. "The 
Gentiles lhould be fellow-heirs and of the fame body, and par- 
takers of his promifein Chrift by the Gofpel. Eph. iii. 6. Cer- 
tainly the compound words Sugkle-ronoma — Suss-oma — 
Summ-etoka, are important and beautiful, and the compound 
is efTential to St Paul's meaning ; here therefore, a fyllable is- 
full of meaning: but fifty fuch pafTages would not be fufficient 
to eftablifh fuch a general canon of interpretations, as this father 
lays down. In cap. iii. Epift. ad Ephef. 

He fpeaks better in another place, although inccnfiftently with 
his former rule, " The Gofpel does not lie in the found; but in 
the fenfe of Scripture." 

* " Obferve the method of Monf. Daille. This famous 
preacher expounds the epiftles to the Philippians and Coloffians 
in a courfe of fermons. He ufualiy takes for text that number 
of verfes, more or lefs, which contains the whole fubject, of 
which the apoflle fpeaks. He does not trifle with terms : but 
he takes the fubjecl, and, collecting it into two, three, or four 
proportions, difcuffes it in a fenfible and edifying manner. One 
example follows. Phil. iii. 18, 19. " Many w T alk, of whom I 
have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the 
enemies of the crofs of Ghrirf - } whofe end is deftruclion, whofe 



( lat ) 



terms as much as poffible in relation to the prefent 
defign of ths facred author, and to the circumftances 
of the text ; for by thefe means you will avoid com- 
mon-places, and fay proper and agreeable things. * 
Sometimes you will meet with texts, the fimple 

god is their belly, and whofe glory is their fhame, who mind 
earthly things." The exordium of this fermon is taken from 
Mat. xiii. 24. &c. and the fubjec"b is divided into two parts. 1. 
The manner of St. Paul's addrefs. « I have told you often, and 
now tell you even weeping.'' 2. The matter of it. It is a de- 
fcription of bad chriftians and bad minifters in the chiiftian 
church. They are remarkable for five bad qualities, or condi- 
tions. 1. They are " enemies of the crofs of Chrift. 2. Their 
end is deftruction. 3. Their god is their belly. 4. They glory 
in their fhame. 5. They mind earthly things. The firft part of 
this fermon diftinguifhes the chriftian minifter from raving pa- 
gan priefts, from dry phlegmatic philofophers, from felfifh fu- 
perftitious rabbies, and from dull unfeeling animals of all kinds, 
and defcribes the wife, vigilant, and tender character of a true 
paftor. The laft part characterizes bad men, and wicked mini- 
fters. The two parts form a ftrong contrail, and the fermon 
concludes with a touching affecting recapitulation by way of ap- 
plication to the confciences and conduct, of the auditors. <f Sur 
FEp. Aux Philip. Serm. vingtroifieme." 

The laft mark of bad minifters, that is, a principal attention to 
fecular affairs, was evidently on the Englifh clergy during the 
reigns of the Stuarts, and their proftitution of preaching to ftate 
defigns contributed more than any other thing to bring in irreli- 
gion, deifm, and atheifm. Before the civil war, they, whom the 
book of fports had not banifhed from church, were taught paf- 
five obedience, non-refiftance, and the divine right of kings. And 
after the reftoration, " communion with God, confeffion of fin a 
praying by the fpirit," yea, the Scriptures themfelves were ridi- 
culed, for the fake of ridiculing the diffenters, who held them fa- 
cred. See " ProfefTor Haliburton on Nat. and Revealed Reli- 
gion, chap. i. on the Rife and Growth of Deifm, 

* " Explain fimple terms by the defign of the writer.'' The, 
infpired writers had defigns in writing, and minifters fhould have 
defign in preaching. 

One of our moft judicious modern writers ftrongly recom- 
mends unity of defign to preachers " Some, fays he, make 
their difcourfes little more than general eflays on virtue and vice^ 
without a ftrid adherence to the leading fen.tim.ents of their text, 



( 192 ) 



terms of which mull be difcuffed profefledly ; * and 
In order to give a clear and full view of the fubjeft, 
you muft give a clear and diftind idea of the terms. 

and without any particular and determinate defign. A method 
of conveying moral inftruclion no lefs injudicious, than if a 
teacher of botany were to content himfelf with leading his pupil, 
day after day, through gardens richly ftored with plants, with- 
out attempting to clafs them under their proper heads, and ex- 
plain to him their feveral diftindtions and qualities. 

" In every difcourfe a preacher mould keep one leading obje£fc 
continually in view, and preferve a unity of defign. Enfield's 
Preacher's Directory Preface.'' 

The following canon of the reformed church in Switzerland 
has a direct tendency to lead preachers off from this unity of de- 
fign. " The Swifs proteftant minifters are enjoined to make it 
their chief bufinefs in all their fermons to expound every word of 
the text in its proper and genuine fignification, out of the Greek 
or Hebrew original, according to the true fcope and meaning of 
the Holy Gholt ; and to draw thence fuch dogmatical inferences 
as are moft fuitable to the capacity of the auditors, and which 
have moft tendency to the edification of fouls, and to the glorify- 
ing of their Creator and Redeemer." 

I^b pretence of glorifying God, or of edifying man, can deftroy 
th# nature and fitnefs of things, on which all advice about unity 
of defign is founded. See " Liturgia Tigurina, tranflated by 
John Conrad Werndly. Preaching. Order vr" 

There is, we conceive, a middle way, that lies between two 
extremes in this textual method of preaching. To make a whole 
fermon confifl of an explication of terms, or to deduce from each 
term a different and heterogeneous fentiment, and to difcufs all, 
is one extreme •, and to huddle up, and difmifs the terms carelef- 
ly is the other. There is a (hort neat way of explaining terms, 
and of intimating fentiments, fo as to lead up to that one princi- 
pal fentiment, which the writer had in viewt 

* " The fimple terms of fome texts muft be difcuffed profef- 
fedly." There are many paffages of Scripture, in which the 
fenfe of each paffage depends on one fmgle word. A foreign di- 
vine gives us the following examples. Mat; i. 21. " Thou malt 
call his name Jefus ; for he mail fave his people from their fins." 
The whole fenfe is contained in the term Jefus. Our author ob- 
ferves, t. The antiquity of it. He was coniidered as Jefus, or 
the Saviour before the world began, and a promife of eternal life 
was then given to him for us. Titus i. 2. 2 Tim. i. 1. Eph. i. 
3, 4, &c. 2. The author of it. God gave this name immedia- 



C 193 } 



For example, i . Tim. i. 5. Now the end of the 
commandment is chanty, out of a pure heart, and of a 
good confidence^ and of faith unfeigned. Divide the 
text into three parts, the firfi of which may be the 
commandment^ of which the apoftle fpeaks- — the /r- 
corid its end) charity — -and the third the principles 
from which this charity, or love proceeds, from a 
pure heart, a good confidence, and faith unfeigned, 

You muft firft then, particularly enquire what this 
commandment is, and remark three different fenfes of 
the term; it is put 1. particularly for the moral law 
— 2, For the preaching of the Gofipel, for the Greek 
word will bear this meaning — and 3. In general for 
the true religion. In explaining the word in the firft 
fenfe, you may (hew, why the law is called the com- 

tely to Chrift ; and by an angel he revealed it to men. 3. The 
agreement of the name with the conduct of the perfon *, for he 
faves his people, &c. 4. The agreement of it with all the whole 
revealed will of God in fcripture; for the end of all is the falva- 
tion of the people of God. 5. The influence of the name well 
underftood over the hearts and lives of men. 

John vii 26. This is the very Chrift. Here again the fenfe 
turns on the term Chrift; Our author divides the fubjedr, into 
into two parts, and enquires, 1. Who in the Old Teftament are 
called Chrifts; and, 2. Why this name is given to Jefus. In the 
firft pare he confiders three things. 1. The meaning of the word, 
it fignifies anointed. 2. To whom the name was given ; to pa- 
triarchs, kings, priefts, prophets, &c. 3. Why they were called 
Chrifts. The ceremony of anointing was declaratory of a legal 
call to offices, a pledge of inward qualifications neceiTary to the 
difcharge of them, and a ftipulation of that fidelity, with which 
the offices were to be executed. In the fecond part he confiders 
alfo three articles. 1. Who anointed Jefus. 2. With what he 
was anointed. 3. What offices he executed in confequence of 
his unction. 

A els xi. 26. " The difciples were called Chriftians firft in An- 
tioch." Our author here confiders, 1. The origin of the name. 
2, The perfecutions that followed it. 3. The import of it. 
Each opens a wide field of meditation and all properly belong to 
the term " chriftian. Joan. Tefmar, Exercitat. Rhetor, lib. viii- 
cap. 3. De Laudandis aut Vituperandis Rebus.' 

Bb 



( 194 ) 



ma-admeni, on account of the natural authority of 
the truths themselves ; for the law contains nothing 
but what muft needs be a creature's duty — on ac- 
count alfo of the authority of the legislator, who is 
God our fovereign mailer, &c. Taking the word 
in the fecoitd fenfe, fomething pertinent may be ob- 
ferved on the necessity of preaching the word. Re- 
mark the wifdom of God, who, in order to difcover 
the myfteries of the gofpel to men, not only fent the 
apoftles to us at the beginning, not only commanded 
us to inftrud: each other by mutually communicating 
our knowledge, not only gave us the Holy Scriptures, 
that we might fearch them, and increafe our know- 
ledge, but who, over and above all thefe, has eftabli- 
fried a gofpel miniftry in his church, in order that 
his word might be preached in common to all. * 

* " God haseftablifliedagofpel-miniftry in his church." The 
Pagans had no public fermons for the inftruction of the people ; 
but their religion confifted of facrifices, ceremonies, feftivals J 
and fo on. See Puffendorf in IntroducT ad Hifl. , 

The Jews had not only the reading of the Scriptures in their 
fynagogues : but they had alfo expositions of the law, and fer- 
mons exhorting them to the practice of virtue, as Phiio the Jew 
witnefieth in his Treatife on the Sabbath. 

When Jefus Chrift afcended to heaven, he " gave gifts unto 
feme extraordinary, and to fome ordinary orders of men, to apof- 
tles, prophets, evangelifts, parlors, and teachers" •, the ordinary 
clafs is to be continued in the church " till we all come in the u- 
nity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto 
a perfect man, unto the meafure of the ftature of the fulnefs of 
ChrifV'; (Eph. iv. 8, Sic.) that is, till the cpnfumation of all 
things. 

A learned foreigner defines a gofpel-miniftry as follows. u A 
gofpel-miniilry is a facred and public office, inftituted by God, 
and committed to eligible men, lawfully called, and properly fup- 
ported, to preach the word of God, to adminifter the facraments, 
to intercede wirh God for the llock committed to their charge, 
to exercife fcripture-difcipline, and by the whole to promote 
the ^lery of God, and the eternal falvation of men.'' 

This definition wants much explication ; our author obferves, 



( 195 ) 



Remark the great benefit and utility of this preach-- 
ing. Obferve alfo that J ejus Chrifi whilft he was u- 
pon earth was pleafed to fan&ify this admirable mean 
by his own practice and example, &c, * In explain- 
ing the word in its third meaning, to which I think 
you fhould principally attend, you muft fhew why 
religion is called a commandment. 

1. Becaufe it is not an indifferent thing, which 
may be delayed as we pleafe, but a necejfary obliga- 
tion impofed on all mankind. 

2. Becaufe religion in all its parts ought to proceed 
from God; for as he has not left it to the choice of 
man to have, or not to have a religion ; fo neither 

therefore, i. The miniftryis a facred office, and has no concern 
with fecular affairs. 2. It is a public office, and herein it differs 
from the work of a parent, or head of a family, whofe religious 
exercifes extend no farther than his own jurifdiclion. 3. It is of 
divine inftitution. 2 Pet. i. 21. Heb. i, 1. Eph. iv. 11, 12. 1 
Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6. 4. It is committed to eligible men, for wo- 
men, children, and unqualified men are ineligible. Three qua- 
lifications are effential, 1. A thorough knowledge of the doc- 
trines of religion, Mai. ii. 7. fylat. xxviii. 20. ortpiodozia re- 
quiritur. 2. An aptnefs to teach, oportet epifcopum effe didak- 
tikon. 1 Tim. iii. 2. 3. A holy life, opportet epifcopum effe 
antileptikon. 5. It is conferred on men by a lawful call, &c» 
&c. Brochmand. Syflem. Theol. torn. ii. de MinifL Ecclefiafh 
cap. i. f. 2. 

Preaching the word, which is a part of the minifier's office, 
includes the catechifing of children, the lecturing of youth, the 
reading of the fcriptures, and the delivering of fermons, by all 
which facred knowledge is propagated, and moral good produced. 
The matter of his preaching fhould be the pure doctrines of the 
Holy Scriptures, and neither the creeds, the ceremonies, the po- 
litics, nor the impertinencies of men. 

% * " Jefus Chrilt is a preacher's example. As the utility of a 
pious laborious gofpel-miniftry is great, fo a carelefs loofe liver ; 
bearing this holy character, is of all men moft contemptible. 
Mankind are fo univerfally agreed to look for utility in the mi- 
niflry, that their refentment every where rifes againft the ufelefs. 
The pulpit and the ftage, the gay poet, and the grave nioralift, 
agree to expofe wicked miniflers. 



{ 196 ) 



has he left it to his fancy to invent fuch a worfhip as 
he choofes : * therefore St Paul calls fuperftitions 

* God has not left religion to the fancies of men. The in- 
fallible decrees of popes, and the injunctions of the governors 
of reformed churches, violate this truth. Againft both we 
plead, that both the matter, and the manner of divine worfhip 
are prescribed in Holy Scripture. Protectant diffenters have no- 
thing more to do in their own defence than to apply thofe ar- 
guments to reformed lords of confcience, which they themfelves 
apply to the great tyrant at Rome. 

One of our old divines fays, " We mud have God's war- 
rant for God's worfhip St Paul proves, that the tribe of 

Judah had nothing to do with Aaron's priefthood, from the 
iilence of Mofes, of which tribe Mofes fpake nothing concern- 
ing the priefthood. God employed Mofes to reveal his will 

to the Jews — —Mofes fpake nothing of Judah's priefthood 

■ Therefore God would not have that tribe officiate in the 

priefthood — -What God would have his church know and 
praclife fince the abolition of Judaiim he hath revealed by 

Chrift and his apoftles -The apoftles have regiftered thefe 

appointments in Scripture We may therefore ufe this apo- 

ltolical argument againft popifh inventions."- (and may we 

not add, againft proteftan* inventions too?) (( Neither Mofes, 
nor any other penman of Scripture fpake any thing of wor- 
fhipping God in fuch and fuch a manner, therefore human ap- 
pointments are no more acceptable to God than Uzziah's offering 
incenfe 2Chron. xxvi. 10. 

God is equally jealous of the manner of his worfhip, fee thou 
do all things according to the pattern, i. The fame Lord, who 
prescribes the matter, prescribes the manner. 

2. As great refpecl is manifefted to God in the manner 
of doing what he requires as in the matter, i Kings iii. 6. 2 
Kings xx. 3, 

3. Herein lieth a main difference between the upright and hy- 
pocrite. Witnefs Gen. iv. 4, 5. 

4. That, which is good, is altered and perverted by failing in 
the manner. 

5. Failing in the manner makes God reject that, which in the 
matter he requireth. Ifa. i. 11. 

6. God detefts things commanded by himfelf, when they are 
done in an ill manner. Ifa. lxvi- 3, 

7. In this cafe, he that doth the work of the Lord, _ is ac- 
curfed. Jer, xlviii. 10." Gouge on Hebrews chap. vii. feci. 
76. viii. 17. 

Before any man, or any fet of men, prelum e to enjoin an ar* 



( 197 ) 



ethelothreskias will worfhip. Indeed religion 
confifts in obddience of faith, obedience of difcipline, 
and obedience of morality; but whatever does not 
bear the divine Imprefs can never be acceptable to 
God, In vaifiy fays Jefus Chrift, they honour me^ 
teaching for doctrines tloc commandments of men. * 

tide of faith to be believed by chriftians, or a ceremony to be 
performed by them, a right to exercife this power ought to be 
produced \ but no fuch right can be produced. Some fay the 
pope has it ; fome place it in chriftian kings 5 fome in a fynod; 
lbme in what they call the church: but to all we apply what 
a good writer fays of the Pope's fupremacy, " The difagree- 
rnent of doctors about the nature and extent of this authority, 
is a fhrewd prejudice againft it. If a man mould fue for a 
piece of land, and his advocates (the notableft, that could be 
had, and well paidj) could not find where it lieth, and how it is, 
butted and bounded, and from whom it was conveyed to him, 
one would be very apt to fufpe£fc his title. If God had infti- 
tuted fuch an office, it is highly probable, we might fatisfa£to~ 
rily know what the nature and ufe of it were; the patents and 
charters for it would declare it." Dr Barrow on the Pope's Su- 
premacy. Intro. 

For want of right men have availed themfelves of power. 
"What a church-champion fays of popifh fupremacy we may 
fafely fay of every other kind of church-fupremacy. " The 
Pope's fupremacy is not only an indefenfible, but an impudent 
caufe, as ever was undertaken by learned pens. And nothing 
could have kept it fo long from becoming ridiculous in the 
judgment of mankind, but its being fo ftrongly fupported by 
wordly intereft. There is not one tolerable argument for it, 
and there are a thoufand invincible reafons againft it. The 
Pope's Janizaries boldly aflert, and ftiffly contend for it without 
reafon." Bifhop Tillotfon's Preface to Barrow. 

* Commandments of men. Why are ye fubjefr, to ordinan- 
ces, after the commandments of men ? which [human ordinan- 
ces] have indeed a fhew of wifdom in will- worfliip. Some com* 
m -ntators think, St Paul means, pagan ceremonies ; others fup- 
pcie, he intends Jewifh traditions ; fome fay, Mofaic inftitu- 
tions, formerly performed by divine appointment; but now abo- 
lifeed; others include every practice in religion not clearly 
of divine injunction. People, who pra&ife thefe, feem indeed 

be animated by a fpirit of wifdom, piety, and religion ; they 
abllain from many comforts of life,which others allow themfelves 



( 398 ) 



May God, fays St Paul, make you perfecl in every 
good work to do bis will^ working in you, that which 
is welUpleaJing in his fight > through Jefus Cbriff. 
Hence it is, that not paftors only, but all believers 
are called the fervants of God, to fignify that they 
execute his commands, and are heartily -devoted to 
his pleafure. 

Pairing now to the fecond point, two things muft 
be examined; firfl, what is this charity or love ? and 
fecondly, how is it the end of the co?nmandment? both 
thefe muft be accurately dilcuffed. 

As to the firft, you muft remark that the princi- 
pal objecl of our love is God, to an union with whom 
the foul elevates itfelf by emotions of love as to the 
fupreme perfection ; by emotions of defre as to the 
fupreme good of a creature; by emotions of gratitude 
as to the only fource of all the blefsings, which we 
enjoy, and as to one, who firft loved us, and tefti- 
fied his love by an infinite number of benefits; by 
emotions of tendernefs, and fympathy as to an origi- 
ginal, of which we are images, a father of whom we 
are the children, for which reafon we conform moft 
to him when we leaft obey our own finful pro- 

to enjoy, and by negle£Ung the body, feem to be all taken up 
with fpiritual and nobler objects ; but they grofly miftake, for 
God is honoured by a proper moderate attention to the fatisfy- 
ing of the flefh. See Theophylac~t, and Erafmus in loc. 

Why are ye fubje£t to human ordinances ? A wife human 
appointment annexed to civil tranfa&ions, may become a re- 
prehenfible fuperftition, by being affociated with religious cere- 
monies. The Jews* like all other nations > procured proper 
witnefles to atteft their marriages, and the legitimacy of their 
children. The prophet Ifaiah took two credible witnefles to 
atteft his marriage, and, perhaps, the birth, name, and circum- 
cifion of his fon Mahermalalhafhbaz. viii. 1 5 2, q . In this 
tranfa&xon, Junius and Tremellius fay, the chriftian church 
found godfathers; and many reformed churches preferve them 
to this day* 



t ^9 ) 



penfities ; by emotions of acquiefcence and joy for the 
poffefsion of communion with him; and, in fine, by 
emotions of %eal in his fervice and for his glory, fince 
God is our lad end, to whom all, that we are, and all, 
that we can do, ought to refer, * 

You may remark, again, that this love makes 

* God is the principal object of our love. It is a maxim laid 
down by fome divines, that difinterefted love to God is effential 
to Ghriftianity, or, as they exprefs it, " whoever feeks any 
thing in God befide God himfelf does not fincerely love him." 
It is allowed, that God is in himfelf a lovely object — that, were 
it poffible for an intelligent being to exift independent on God, 
it would be impoflible for fuch a being to contemplate the di- 
vine nature and not to love it ; but it mould be remembered, 
that, even in the cafe fuppofed, confcioufnefs of conformity to 
the nature and fitnefs of things would be attended with plea- 
fure, and pieafure is intereft, fo that, ftri£Hy fpeaking, pure 
difinterefted love of God is impomble. Mankind love God 
under the fevereft ftrckes of his providence ; but they find a 
pieafure in loving him, and in fubmitting to his will, that am- 
ply indemnifies them, and gives them the higher! intereft in this 
Jove. There feem to be not three different kinds of love to 
Goal ; but three different degrees of the fame love to him. i. 
Some love God for the temporal benefits, which they derive 
from him. Temporal bleffings, however, are not the objects 
of their fupreme love : but God the giver of them. 2. Others 
love God for the fpiritual bleffings, which they enjoy from his 
grace, fuch as fandtification, falvation, &c. c ' I love the Lord, 
becaufe he hath heard the voice of my fupplieation.' , 3. O- 
thers love God for his own beauty and excellency ; but this 
love being attended with pieafure cannot be feparated from 
mental intereft, perhaps not from corporal intereft, he is the 
health of my countenance, and my God. Molt chriftians begin 
with the firit, grow into the fecond, and end in the laft; and to 
the laft, as to that degree, which produces the nobleft effects, 
all good men fhould afpire. The queftion, I think, is not whe- 
ther men ought to love God difintereftedly : but whether it be 
poffible to do fo. " A chriftian's defire, fays one of our old 
divines, is to God chiefly, and to God fimplv ; to God as the 
God of grace, for more ftrength and ability to ferve him, and 
to God as the God of all comfort, for the pieafure of fellow- 
ship and communion with him." Dr Horton's Expof. of Pfal. 
xlii. 1. 



( 200 ) 



God reign over us in a manner the moft noble, 
and the moft worthy of himfelf. He reigns over 
all creatures, either by his influence, or by his pro- 
vidence, or by his juftice. By his influence, he reigns 
over the heavens, the elements, and all inanimate 
creatures, moving and directing them as he pleafes. 
He reigns by his providence over the wicked, turn- 
ing and bowing their wills as he choofes. He reigns 
in hell by his jujiice* None of thefe w r ays of exer- 
cifing authority are comparable to that dominion, 
which our love gives him: for as he fills our whole 
heart he prevades all its principles, he is in all its 
emotions as caufe, object and end, fo that there is a 
perfect harmony between him and our hearts. When 
he reigns by his power over inanimate things, pro- 
perly fpeaking, he is neither their end, nor their ob- 
ject, he is only the power which moves them. When 
he reigns over the wicked by his providence, the 
wicked have another end, and another object. * 
When he reigns in bell by his juftice, the miferable 
fufterers, far from acquiefcing in his avenging ftrokes, 
murmur, rebel, aud blafpheme againft him. But 
when he reigns in the hearts of his faints by love, 
he not only difplays his power, but he is himfelf the 
object on which the faints act, the end to which they 
move; and there reigns a perfect harmony between 
God and his creature. 

You may obferve farther, that when w r e give 
our love to the creatures, withdrawing it from 
God, it is an act of injuftice to ourfelves. and an in- 

* The wicked propofe other ends. Mr. Rollin's Preface to 
his Ancient Hiftory, vol. i. admirably exemplifies this in the 
difperfion at Babel, in Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus ? 



( 201 ) 



fult on God. * It infults God; for we rob him 
of what belongs to him. It is injurious to our/elves; 
for we deprive ourfelves of a glory, for which we 
were created, and after which we might lawfully 
have afpired: thus we are doubly unjuft and doubly 
outrageous. 

And, befides all this, as thefe forts of unions are 
heterogeneous, without fitnefs and proportion, they 
are accompanied with an almofl infinite number of 
inconveniencies; for if we love inanimate things, as 
the mifer doth, who loves his (ilver and gold; or as 
the worldling doth, who loves diverfions, hunting, 
gaming aflembiies; or as fome love arts and fciences; 
we love thofe things, which have no love for us; 
we give our hearts to that, which has no heart to re- 
turn the prefent, which we make. What pleafure 

* It is injuftice to ourfelves to love the creature more than 
the Creator. It is unjuft to ourfelves, i. Becaufe we abandon 
that noble moral liberty, for which we were formed, and which 
coniifts in knowing, loving, and ferving God. 2. Unjuft, be- 
caufe we fubmit to all the real injuries, to which thofe paffions, 
that exact all from us, and yield us nothing in return, expofe 
us. 3. Unjuft, becaufe we deprive ourfelves of all thofe advan- 
tages, which pertain to love and obedience. To this fubject 
fome apply Hof. xi. 12. Judah ruleth with God. To ferve 
God is to reign 5 his fervice is more than perfect freedom, it is 
royalty and freedom united. Thus faith the Lord, <c If thou^ 

wilt walk in my ftautes then thou (halt judge my houfe, and 

(halt alfo keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk a- 
mong thefe angels that ftand by, i. e. I will conftitute thee a 
prieft in my militant church in this life, and in my church trium- 
phant I will elevate thee to fuch dignity as angels enjoy. Zech. 
iii.4. 7. 

Our writer adds, In the love of God there can be no excefs ; 
for (ince the chief end of all human actions and affections is the 
love of God, there can no end or limit be fet to it, but by 
how much more he is loved, by fo much is the love the better. 
The love of God is the moft perfect exercife of moral liber- 
ty. Theoph. Galei. Philofoph. Gen. lib. hi. cap. 3. feci* 
3- 7- 



( 202 ) 

is there in loving that, which cannot love again ? 
Does not the happinefs of friendfhip arife from mu- 
tual poffeffion ? But what mutual pofTeffion can there 
be between a heart and a heard efs object ? between 
us and a thing, which not only cannot impart itfelf 
to us, but which is even incapable of any, the leaft 
degree of confolation in poffeffing us ? If w^e love the 
world, I mean the men of it, I own, they have hearts 
as well as we, they are capable of loving us as w r ell as 
w r e are of loving them : but beiides that they have 
frequently hearts ungrateful and incapable of friendly 
affection, or hearts already difpofed of, or divided 
hearts, w T hich cannot love enough, becaufe they 
love too much, or hearts light and unfaithful, which 
cannot be depended on • befides all this, it mull be 
confeffed, the hearts of creatures were never made for 
each other ; they are all void, imperfect,/^/', ?nifcr- 
able, blind, and naked; and what alliance can you 
make between void and void, imperfect and imper- 
fect, poor and poor, blind and blind ? Emptinefs na- 
turally demands union w T ith abundance, imperfection 
with perfection, poverty with riches, and error with 
truth. Our hearts are then only made for God, for 
in him only can they find what they delire, he only 
can fupply what they want. * 

* " God only can fupply what our hearts want-'' Hence the 
Lord fays of the wicked, ' ( In the fulnefs of his fufficiency he 
ihall be in (traits and hence the propriety of this command, 
My fon give me thy heart ; and of this advice, I counfel thee to 
buy of me gold, and eye-falve, and white raiment ; for thou 
art poor and (inferable, and blind and naked. Job xx. 22. Prov* 
xxiii. 26 Rev. in. 1 8, 

Some divines, with greai propriety, have derived from thefe 
notions one ftrong argument for the truth of revelation. Thui 
one : " It is certain we are all moved by nature, by rational na- 
ture I mean, to love ourfelves, to love our neighbour, and to love 
God. He, who has any heart at all, cannot but be fenfible of 



( 203 ) 



Having thus difcuffed love as it regards God, paft 
on to its iecond object, which is our neighbour. Re- 

thefe truths. - -Heathen deities, being confeiTedly dilTblute and 
vicious, could not be objects of rational love Pagans, there- 
fore, boaited of admiring virtue for virtue's-fake. But virtue is 
like a dead carcafe, when deprived of its eiTential relation to the 
Deity. It is madnefs in man to defpife riches merely for the 
fake of defpifmg them, and to expofe himfelf to dangers mere- 
ly for the fake of expofmg himfelf, without any profpecl: of ad- 
vantage. Virtue confifts in making thefe efforts only when we 
mould make them, and when we are obliged by duty to do fo. 
God himfelf being the grand principle of all our duties and o- 
bligations, true and folid virtue can never be conceived but with* 

fome relation to God. Revelation teaches us how to love 

ourfelves as we ought, becaufe it regulates the deiires of felf- 
love by temperance and jultice. It teaches us how to love our 
neighbours, by condemning all the falfe principles of former 
unions, injuftice, intereft, &c. and by binding our engagements 
to mankind with the moft folid bond of human fociety, univer- 
fal love. It requires us to love God above all things, " with 
all our heart, with all our ftrength, and with all our foul j" and 
by thefe means it ftrongly eftablimes the general principle of al 
our duties, extirpates all our vices by the roots, and produces the 
foul of all virtue." Abbadie on the Truth of the Chrijljan Religion , 
feel, iii. chap. 2. 3. 

Hence alfo arifes an argument in favour of the reformation 
It is the glory of the reformed churches to have inculcated this 
amiable fpirit of univerfa I love ; for, although a variety of cir- 
cumftances has prevented their union, yet all, in their cool and 
difpaflionate moments, have protefted their readinefs to aiTociate 
with their diflenting brethren, and to practice a chriftian tolera- 
tion towards them. The Roman church renounces this fpirit 
in theory, and from principle. 

Mr Le Clerc contends very juflly — " that the doctrine of the 

reformers is in this cafe of more weight than their practice 

, becaufe it is conformable to the fentiments of the apoftles 
becaufe when they conlidered the matter coolly, and in general, 
the wifdom and authority of the apoftles (truck them on this 

article becaufe their prejudices againft the perfons of fome 

of their contemporary brethren led them ofF in practice from 
their own fentiments in a word, becaufe the frailty of hu- 
man nature was in them, as in molt other men, too lirong for 
their own holy principles." I may add, I believe, becaufe iecu- 
lar powers over-ruled them. 

Were people to propofe gravely the moft pernicious errors, 

C C 2 



( 204 ) 



mark firft, that, notwithftariding our faying the 
hearts of men are not made for each other, we mean 
to explain this by diftinguifhing two different times. 
The ''firft is while our hearts are empty and poor, re- 
ferable and blind, and confequently incapable of im- 
parting any good to others, capable only of being a 
burden to them, at fuch a time we muft not dream 
of loving the creature, becaufe being like ourfelves, 
we can neither give nor receive any benefit ; then we 
muft only love God. The fecond time is, when, 
being united to God, we have already felt the effects, 
of a happy communion, and are made partakers of 
his abundance, perfection, and knowledge. Then 
we may love the creature ; for then we may be able 
to benefit him by imparting what we have received. 
Then it will not be mifery joined to mifery, blind- 
nefs to blindnefs : but if they, whom we love, be 
good people, it will be light forming an union with 
light, and abundance with abundance ; and if they 
be wicked men, our reafon may diffipate their er- 
rors, * our perfection correct their imperfection, and 
our riches fupply their poverty. 

that ever entered into the human mind, we would ferioufly rea- 
fon with them ; were they to propofe the greateft abfurdities 
imaginable with good temper, we fhould laugh at the notions 
and love the men: but when an unfeeling aflaffin, whofe black 
looks indicate a foul all compofed of intolerant principles, per- 
fuades the magi ft rate to write his creed in characters of human 
blood, we are fure of collufion, and we fhudder at the fight • and, 
whatever flattering compliments the magiftrate and the prieft 
pay one another, whatever foft names they give themfclves and 
their practices, the wife and good part of mankind will always 
ccnfider them as miflionaries of him, who was a liar and a mur- 
derer from the beginning. 

* " Our reafon may difhpate the errors of bad men, if we 
love them." " Difputations in religion, fays one, are fometimes 
necefTai y : but always dangerous ; becaufe they draw the bell 
fpirits into the head from the heart, and leave it either empty 



( 205 ) 



You mull:, moreover, remark the difference^* 
tween thefe two emotions of love, one towards God, 
the other towards man. One is a firft, original, and 
independent love > the other is only fubordinate and 
dependent, a reflexion of the firft. One ought to 
reign in our hearts, not only to hold the firft rank 
and to be elevated above all other love : but alfo to 
reign over the heart itfelf, fo that the heart fhould 
not be the matter of this love, but love on the con- 
trary fhould be mafter, fole and abfolute Lord of the 
heart ; the other ought to obey, to occupy the fe- 
cond place, arid to occupy it fo that the heart fhould 
always remain mafter. One ought to be infinite, 
boundlefs, and beyond all meafure, proportioned to 
its infinite object : but the other ought to be finite, 
ruled and meafured in proportion to the finite crea- 
ture, who is its objecl:. 

of all, or too full of flefhly zeal and paffion, if extraordinary 
care be not taken to fill it anew with pious affections towards 
God and man. 

" Controverfies in religion are generally carried on with more 
heat, than thofe of any other fubjecl: : becaufe, belides reafon^ 
art, credit, and perfuafion of truth, which warm men in other 
differences, they feem in thefe to be inflamed with zeal for God : 
but we fhould pray that we may not only ftrive for God : but 
according to the mind of God, A man fhews moll knowledge 
in the matter of truth : but he difcovers mo ft grace in the man- 
ner of handling it, reverently, modeftly, and holily. 

" He, who ftrives for error, ftrives for Satan againft God. 
He, who ftrives for victory, ftrives for himfelf againft other 
men. He who ftrives for truth ftrives for the Lord againft the 
father of lies. He, who ftrives modeftly for truth, difplays that 
love, which is the end of the commandment, the defign of the 
revelation of truth." John Robin fori s Obfervations divine and 
morale chap. viii. 1625. 

Truth and love fhould never be fepai'ated in a chriftian mini- 
fter's argumentation. If we pretend to cant, and wheedle peo- 
ple into a community, and offer no evidence to their judgments, 
we err on the one hand ; and if we think to convert them by 
mere proportion devoid of affection and tendernefs, and deliver- 
ed haughtily and boiftergufly, we err on the other, 



\ 



( 206 ) 



Proceed now to the fecond part, which is to mew 
how this love is the end of the commandment ^ and re- 
peat the three fenfes, which you have given of the 
term. 

i. It is the end of the moral law, the fummary 
of which is, thou Jhalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thine heart, and thy neighbour as thy f elf, In ef- 
fect, all our offences, as well againft the firft as the 
fecond table of the law, proceed either from the want 
or imperfection of this virtue ; for did we love God 
and our neighbours as we ought, we mould neither 
offend the divine Majefty, nor our brethren. On 
this account St Paul calls love the bond of perfecl- 
nefs-y * for it is a perfect bond, *f* which unites us to 
God and to our neighbours, without allowing any 
thing to feparate us, or fufFering any thing contrary 
to fuch an holy communion., 

All the virtues, which the particular articles of the 
moral law require of us, are only fo many branches 
of this love ; this is the general virtue, the parent 
and protector of all the reft, a virtue diffufed through 
all, giving them their motion, their action, and their 
value. I fay motion and aclion ; for it is love only, 

* " Charity is the bond of perfectnefs.'' Our great reformer 
obferves — that the papifts abufe this paiTage by pretending to 
derive from it an argument for juftification by works — becaufe 
i. St Paul is not fpeaking of perfection before God : but of har- 
mony among men. And 2. Becaufe no man has perfect cha- 
rity. 

\ " Love is a perfect bond. St Paul here decides a queftion, 
which is one of the moft important to the happinefs of the 
chriftir-n church. Sin divides, and fo deftroys mankind. 
Chriftianity propofesto affociate and unite men. Fhe queltion 
is, By what common bond does it propofe to unite its profeffbrs? 
St Paul fays, by love. The hiftory of the whole chriftian 
church, yea, that of the whole world, will prove, that union by 
any other bond is impracticable, and that union by this is perfect, 
and anfwers every worthy and defirable end. 



( 207 ) 



which makes us truly religious towards God, and 
really juft towards man, this makes the interefts of 
both dear to us. A heart devoid of love is incapa- 
ble of ferving either God or man. I fay alfo their 
value ; for could we exactly obferve all, that the 
law commands, if we had not love, if we performed 
thefe things from a principle of fear, or a mere con r 
fideration of duty, it is certain, all our obedience 
would be difagreeable to God. 

Befides, love is the e?id which the moral law pro- 
pofes ; for it tends to render God an amiable object, 
by fhewing him to be our God, and by removing 
from bur eyes every divinity but his. In like man- 
ner it tends to infpire us with love for all mankind, 
by teaching us to confider them as creatures of the 
God who made us, creatures on whom he has be- 
ftowed the fame bleffing, having made us all of one 
blood, formed us all of the fame matter, and aggran- 
dized us all with the fame image. *. 

* " The moral law propofes to unite us to God, and to all 
mankind * If Mr Claude rightly defcribes the moral law, ought 
not minifters to fpeak with peculiar plainnefs and diftindlion 
when, after the apoftle, they triumph, we are not under the 
law, but under grace ? Ought they not to diftinguilh between 
the moral and ceremonial law ; between the moral law as a co- 
venant of life, and the fame moral law as a rule of conduct ? We 
preach in general that we are not under the law, and we 
fing 

Nor law, nor fin nor death, nor hell 

Shall us from him divide. Cennick. 

Dangerous and unguarded aflbciation ! Thus we fay, and thus 
we ling, till inftead of chriftians we make libertines •, the un- 
diftinguilhing people underftanding no more by deliverance 
from the law, than freedom from the fad neceffity of loving 
pod and their neighbours j whereas the law rightly explained 
is moft defirable. It is a picture, of which Jehovah himfelf is 



{ 208 ) 



In regard to the fecond fenfe of the term com- 
mandment, which is preachings it is plain, the end 
which ought to be propofed in it is love. If a 
preacher would produce this in his hearers, he muft 
neither propofe his own glory, * nor any other hid- 
den thing of diftjonejly (toufe the language of Scrip- 
ture,) nor even barely to acquit himfelf of the duty 
of his charge; he fhould aim at winning the hearts 
of men to God, and uniting them together. It 
is for this that the word is to be preached in common 
to all, that all may have but one heart and one foul 
towards God •f . 

the original. So far as we are enabled to conform to it, fo far 
are we holy, fo far happy, fo far do we referable the blelTed God, 
Conformity to this divine law is the very elTence of the happinefs 
of heaven. Shall what conltitut.es the happinefs of the glorious 
company of the apoftles, the goodly fellowftiip of the prophets, 
the noble army of martyrs, angels, and all the powers in heaven^ 
ihall that be lightly efteemed by us ? God forbid ! 

. Talk they of morals ? Oh thou bleeding love i 
Thou maker of new morals to mankind ! 
The grand morality is love of thee. 

Toung's Night Thoughts. 

* A preacher ought not to feek his own glory. ^ A vain-glorious 
preacher is generally a man of great pride and little knowledge. 

f " Minifters mould aim at uniting men to one another, and 
to God." The falvation of fouls is the firft duty of a pallor, it 
muft be the whole fpirit and confolation of his miniftry. In vain 
are his morals otherwife irreproachable ; it is not enough for us 
to live a wife and regular life in the eyes of men, unlefs with 
thefe fruitlefs exteriors of regularity we be thoroughly penetrated 
with a lively forrow at feeing thofe fouls perifli, which are com- 
mitted to our care; unlefs we arm ourfelves with the zeal of faith 
and love, and with the fword of the holy Scripture endeavour to 
refcue captive fouls •, unlefs we exhort, conjure, and reprove in 
feafon and out of feafon. If, content with our own righteeuf- 
nefs, we think ourfelves fafe, in difcountenancing by our example, 
or in foftly reproving the vices of our people, we are not paftors, 
we are only {hadows, our pretended, unfeeling, lethargic virtue 



( 209 ) 



The Holy Scripture doubtlefs has regard to this, 
when it treats of our communion with Jefus Chrift 
under the image of a body, of w r hich Jefus Chrift is 
the head, and we the members ; not only members 
of this headj but members alfo of each other, as S* 
Paul fpeaks. For this we are told, that, we are ani- 
mated with the fame fpirit, which is the fpirit of the 
Lord, partaking all of the fame life, as with Jefus 
Chrift, fo alfo with all other believers ; for as the u- 
nion, which nature has eftablifhed between the parts 
of our bodies* is fuch, that there can be no different 
interefts among them, no conflicts together, no anti- 
pathies againft each other ; fo the Union, which grace 
makes between us under one fame head Jefus Chrift, 
forms fuch an harmony, that whatever difference 
there may be in us feparately, yet altogether we are 
but one and the fame, as well with the Lord as with 

is a crime, an abomination before God. "We are no more charged 
with the interefts of God upon earth, we are no more the envoys 
of Jefus Chrift to fill up what is behind of his fufferingS, by ren- 
dering the fhedding of his blood for their redemption ufeful to 
our people ; we are tranquil and ufelefs fpe&ators of his re- 
proaches, and by our filence and infenfibility we confent to the 
crime of his crucifiers*. 

No, my brethren ! let us undeceive ourfelves; regularity of 
manners not only does not excufe the indolence of a paftor : but 
it renders him more criminal, as it deprives his people of a zeal* 
which his example would have rendered more ufefuh More- 
over, I have already faid, and I repeat it again, however regular 
his life may appear, it is only an appearance of piety, it is not 
the truth and reality of it. He appears to live, but is dead in the 
light of God. Men perhaps applaud, while God execrates him % 
his regularity lulls him afleep : but a terrible found, the cries of 
fouls periihed through his earelefthefs, will awake him another 
day. He compofes himfelf by a fecret comparison of his own 
regularity with the irregularities of other minifters : but he will 
one day find, that his righteoufnefs is only the righteoufnefs of a 
Pharifee •, that love only forms true virtue ; and that his lot Will 
be no other than that of an ufelefs and hypocritical fervant. 
(i Maffillon. Difc. Synodaux, fur le zele des pafteurs, 

Dd 



t 210 ) 

each other. Now the end of the miniftry is to make 
this admirable union. On this account S. Paul fays, 
" He gave fome apoftles : and fome, prophets : and 
ibme evangelifts: and fome, paftors and teachers: for 
the perfecting of the faints, for the work of the mi- 
niftry, for the edifying of the body of Chrift : till we 
all come in the unity of the faith, and of the know- 
ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto 
the meafure of the ftature of the fulnefs of Chrift: but 
fpeaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in 
all things, which is the head even Chrift: from whom 
the whole body fitly joined together, andcompa&ed 
by that which every joint fupplieth, according to the 
effedual working in the meafure of every part, ma- 
keth increafe of the body, unto the edifying of itfelf 
in love." 

In fine, if by the term commandment you under- 
ftand religion in general, it is no lefs evident, that its 
end is love ; for, whatever it propofes to us of myfte- 
ries, precepts, do&rines, obje&s of faith, or objects of 
hope, all are fruits of God's paternal love towards us, 
and confequently motives to us to love him with all 
our fouls. The church, which religion forms and 
compofes, is only one great family, where ail are 
brethren, all participating the fame inheritance, nouri- 
fhed with the fame food and living under the fame 
difcipline. 

Civil fociety diftinguifhes perfons, families, cities, 
. provinces, and affigns to each peculiar rights ; for it 
is founded on that love, which each individual has 
for himfelf, and regulated by laws of equity protec- 
ting each member in his own property. The end of 
civil fociety is to fatisfy each individual's felf-love, by 
enabling each to enjoy the advantages, which com- 
merce and public peace produce, and in order that 



( 211 ) 



felf-love, may long enjoy thefe advantages, fociety re- 
quires us to do to each as we would each fhould do 
unto us. * 

Religion eftabliflus another fociety, the bond of 
which is love: but not felf-love, and therefore it 
makes of the church one fingle city, one fmgle houfe, 
one fingle province, one fingle good, one fole intereft; 
individuals enjoy the whole ; all is common there ; 
it does not propofe to render to each what belongs to 
him, for nothing belongs to any one, the whole be- 
longs to all. God is the God of all ; Jefus Chrift is 
the Saviour of all, his blood, his merit, his fpirit, his 
kingdom, his heaven, all belong to all without diftinc- 

* " Civil fociety is founded on felf-love.'' This globe and 
the whole of its uncultivated produce, -was at firft free to all. 
Men were nature's commoners unconfined by boundaries of hu- 
man invention j free from human laws? 

Did man acquire property in any thing, it arofe from Jiis own 
labour. 

. If he exerted that labour in cultivation, an idea of inherent 
right, arofe in his mind, and he efteemed the fpot cultivated as 
his property. 

He whofe bodily powers, or mental faculties, were fuperior to 
the labourer's, defirous of poffeffing the cultiyated fpot, by force 
or cunning obtains the ppfleffion. Hence the idea of injuttice. 

Hence alfo (including Locke's reafons) man fees the neceflity 
of aflbciating with his fellow-creatures ; for mutual defence > 
for the prefervation of his property, as before obferved, and to 
procure fomething more than the fimple neceffaries of life. 

As to fovereign power, how is it fupported in civilized dates ? 
by the affiftance of men, fellow-creatures to that fovereign, to 
whom they give a political being or capacity. Why do they lend 
their affiftance ? for a peculiar advantage to themfelves, not to 
the governor. 

In the ftate of original liberty, individuals confidered them- 
felves. Each a£ted, every one laboured and the principal con- 
cern of each was, for his own advantage only. Self-prefervation 
was the reigning principle originally. It was fo intended by the 
author of our being. It is a fundamental law of nature, as fuch 
it ftill fubfifts, in its full force invariably the fame.— Britim Li- 
berties, Introd. p. 44. Locke on Government, c. 5. Rcuffeau's 
Emilius. 

D d 2 



( 212 ) 



tion, without partitio n. * S. Paul was well acquaint- 
ed with this, when he faid, The care of all the 
churches was upon him from day to day ; who is 
weak, adds he, and I am not weak ? who is offended^ 
and I turn not P •f* 

The third part of the text confifts of the principles % 
from which this love ought to proceed : a pure hearty 
a good co7ifcience> and faith unfeigned* \ You may 

* All bleffings belong to all. I do not know, whether the fol- 
lowing ideas of a famous Jefuit be critically exact, in regard to 
the paffage, from which he derives them : but they afford a very 
pi&urefque and beautiful piece of imagery. Ifaiah, fays he, 
reprefents God in the attitude of a benefactor, holding the uni- 
verfe in three fingers, and prefenting to mankind all the treafures 
of it, 

f 2 Cor. xi. 29. Who is offended, and I burn not ? This, I 
think, is one of the fineft of S. Paul's expreflions, as it contains 
the mo ft liberal and generous fentiment, that can adorn the foul 
of a focial creature. 

S. Paul faid, the care of all the churches daily came upon him. 
Noble difpofition ! Infinitely preferable to the narrow contracted 
views of a bigot, whofe whole aim is to defend his own church, 
and who for this purpofe (landers all other communities. Preach- 
ers, who imbibe this illiberal fpirit, will be juftly confidered by 
thinking men as more concerned for fome infignificant appen- 
dages, which their parties have thought proper to affociate with 
chriftianity, than for chriftianity itfelf. 

Ammianus Marcellinus, a pagan hiflorian, faid, no wild beafts" 
were fo cruel to mankind as fome chriftians were to others. The 
chriftians, of whom he fpcke, all engaged in the Arian contro- 
verfy, were the caufes of this fcandal, and divines, who tell lies 
for the glory of God, and punifh people for disbelieving them, 
caufe it It ill. 

% Love and obedience ought to proceed from a pure heart 
Our divines make a very juft and neceffary diftincvcion between 
the actions or men, and the principles, from which their actions 
proceed. The diftindtion is juft, becaufe it is founded on the 
nature of things ; and it is neceffary, becaufe of the confequences 
that follow* The actions of men fall under the cognizance of 
magi (hates, becaufe they affect fociety : but their principles are 
cognizable by God only, and the magiftrate has nothing to do 



( 215 ) 



remark, t. that a pure heart may fignify a fmcere and 
honeft heart, oppofed to a heart double and hypocri- 
tical: for it is true, that our love ought to be accom- 
panied with opennefs and integrity. It fhould have 
its feat in an upright foul, free from fraud and diffi- 
mulation. A feigned love is hatred covered with a 
veil of friendmip : or at beft, it is coldnefs and indif- 
ference hid under appearances of zeal. Of this kind 
are worldly friendfhips, which laft no longer than 
while they ferve a turn, and vanifh as foon as they 
become unprofitable. What numbers are animated 
only by this falfe love ? They profefs to love God 
and their neighbours, they give all the outward figns 
of it : but their love does not proceed from a pure 
heart ; could you penetrate their fouls, you would 
find nothing but felf-intereft ; and, in regard to God 
and their friends, nothing but negligence and con- 
tempt. How many are there, whofe love to God 
and man is only bale and felfifh ? They love God, 

with them ; for he cannot know them, and if he could he ought 
not to punifh or reward them. While they remain principles 
only, and are not brought into overreach, they neither profit 
fociety nor injure it, and therefore are neither objects of gratuity 
nor penalty. On thefe principles we plead for univerfal tolera- 
tion, and execrate the idea of loading one man with emoluments 
for fubfcribing a doctrinal creed, and impoveriihing another for 
refilling to fubicribe it, or for believing a contrary fet of doc- 
trines, while the actions of both maybe equally beneficial to fo- 
ciety, or equally hurtful to it. 

An excellent writer fays very juftly, " No differences in re- 
ligion, hqw great foever, either dilTolve any natural* or civil bend 
of fociety, or abolifh any, the lean: duty of it. A king, huf- 
band, or father, although an heathen, idolater, atheift, or excom- 
municate, is as much a king, hufband, or father, as if he were 
the bell chriftian living, and fo both oweth, and hath owing to 
hirn reciprocally, the duties, and honours of that flate, in which 
he is fet, by an inviolable right, which they, who deny, are mon- 
gers among men, and enemies to human focieties. JohrrRo- 
binfon'i Obf. Mor. and Divine, chap, vii," 



( 21* } 



becaufe God has a falvation to give them ; and they 
love their neighbours, becaufe fome advantages will 
arife from commerce with them. Should thefe con- 
fiderations ceafe, their love would expire with them. * 
This is not to love with a pare heart* Sincere love 
muft be independent on felf-love. God muft be loved 
becaufe he is fupremely lovely.; and our neighbour 
becaufe he is the image of God, and becaufe he and 
we make but one myftical body of Jefus Chrift. *f- 

2. By a pare heart we may underftand an heart 
fanclified and difengaged from every kind of unclean- 
nefs and vice. This diftinguifhes chriftian love. i. 
From that idolatrous love, which falfe religion infpires; 
for this proceeds from a prejudiced mind. A heart 
defiled with fin is capable of only a blind carnal cri- 
minal zeal, a rafh impetucfity towards a falfe object, 
in favour of which the mind is prepofleffed. Chri- 
ftian love, on the contrary, proceeds from zpure hearty 
that is, a heart truly regenerate, a heart where fin is 
dethroned, and where holinefs and righteoufnefs reign. 
2. Chriftian love is alfo hereby diftinguiftied from 
worldly friendjhip. This laft is a fympathy of many 
hearts confpiring together in the fervice of vice as a 
matter. T hus debauchees love each other, drunkards 

* The love of fome people is bafe and felfifh. No men talk 
more of difmterefted love than the myftics, and no church a- 
bounds more with myftics than the church of Rome, the life of 
a cloiftered monk oblei ving the rules of his order naturally lead- 
ing to reverie } and yet felf-intereit marks thefe devotees* While 
they affect to inhabit the pureit regions of myfticifm, they are 
purfuing their own intereit, and flaming with zeal to ruin that 
of every other man, whofe difmterefted foul feeks the univerfal 
happinefs of mankind, 

f God is fupremely lovely. " If we confider the idea which 
wife men by the light ofreafon, have framed of the divine being, 
it amounts to this : That he has in him all the perfection of a 
fpivitual nature &c. 



( 215 ) 



affociate together, thieves unite, the voluptuous are 
delighted with each others converfation; vice makes 
aflbciations as well as virtue, and conformity among 
finners produces fome kind of love. Chriftian love 
is not of this nature, it proceeds from a pure heart, it 
is thefympathy and communion of many fouls joined 
together in bonds of the fame piety, the fame integrity, 
the fame fandity. 

3. Methinks a pure heart may alfo be underftood 
as oppofed to a heart perplexed and embarraffed, as 
that of a fiiperjlitioiis perfon is. * Superftition is a 

# A pure heart is oppofed to a fuperftitious heart. Stri&ly 
fpeaking, a corruption of the doctrine of chriftianity is herefy $ 
a difturbance of the peaceful fpirit of it is fchifm ; and a depra- 
vation of its worlhip is fuperftition : but, as God is worfhipped 
by the mind, the heart, and the life, our divines fpeak of luper- 
ftitious notions, fuperftitious paffions, and fuperftitious a&ions. 
Super ftitious notions of God are fuch ideas of the fupreme be- 
ing, as are incongruous with his nature, according to the dictates 
of reafon and revelation. Superftitious paffions are fuch emo- 
tions, as are excited in our hearts, not by a natural representa- 
tion of any object : but by thofe falfe and fanciful appearances, 
which imagination has given to it. Superftitious actions are fuch 
practices as arife from, and are Supported by the forementioned 
notions and paflions. 

Superftition, $gain, is divided into popular, or vulgar, and 
religious. Of tffifrjirft fort is the fear of danger, when a hare 
c roues the highway — of anger, when fait falls — of death, when 
owls and ravens appear, and lights burn dim. Of the lajl kind 
is the notion of God under a form — the dread of purgatory— 
the faying of S. Rocke's mafs to get rid of the plague \ S» 
Anthony's to fave cattle ; S. Lucy's to heal fore eyes — the en- 
dowing of a college to expiate murder-~the afcribing of holi- 
nefs to places which are incapable of it — -and the giving of mo- 
ral efficacy to religious books and habits, with ten thoufand 
thoufand more fuch fooleries, the fuccedanea of nurfes, the 
fcare-crows of children, the terror of peafants* and the contempt 
of fenfible men. 

That the common people are wonderfully prone to fuperftition 
who can doubt ? That their errors have flipped into natural 
hiftory, geography, poetry, ftatuary, painting, and Scripture al- 
io, an ingenious writer has abundantly proved, 6t There is fcarce 



( 216 ) 



confufed medley of different* contrary, and inconfif- 
tent fentiments. Sometimes it fifes into exceffive 
boldnefs, and fuddenly it finks into timidity and fcru- 
pulofiy ; now it fwells with haughtinefs, then it 
fhrivels with horror ; its tones, like falfe mufic, are 
without order, without meafure, without rule. True 
and genuine love cannot proceed from a mind in this 
ftate, it demands a pure hearty a mind uniform and 
well-regulated, entertaining ^ fuch ideas of God and 
our neighbour as we ought * 

any tradition or popular error but {lands alfo delivered by fome 
Good AUTHOR." Brown' 's Vulgar Errors , book i. chap. 8. 

It is equally clear, that chriftians in all parts of the world have 
debafed chriftianity with vulgar errors, and thus ruftic tales have 
become ecclefiaftical fuperftition. See Pagitfs Chrijlianography. 

Here follow two examples of what I call horrible fuperftition. 
u A gentleman of a noble family in Switzerland, was beheaded 
for once uttering one blafphemous word, he being at the time 
both angry and in drink." 

«' A young candidate of divinity, of no mean rank, in the 
fame country, was adminiftering the Lord's fupper. While he 
held the cup, he looked on a young lady, a communicant, to 
-whom he was to be married in a few days. The young lady 
alked him next day why he looked fo earneftly on her at church, 
during the adminiftration of the facrament ? Becaufe replied he, 
i" hadalmoft a fancy to drink your health" The lady, who, I am 
Cure, did notdeferve a hufband, began to deteftjhim, " the mat- 
ter was fpread abroad, he was taken into cuftedy, committed to 
prifon, and in a few weeks after condemned and beheaded.'* 
This young vicTim to a cruel fuperftition did not lofe his life 
for a look ; for nobody, it feems, knew the meaning of it; but 
for having almoft a fancy to fpeak what his own good fenfe made 
him avoid fpeaking. See Liturgia ligurina. 

# Superftition is a medley of contrary fentiments. r Super- 
ftition is a certain kind of fear ; which, pofTeffing us ftrongly 
with the apprehended wrath or difpleafure of divine powers, 
hinders us from judging what thofe powers are in themfelves, or 
what conduct of ours may, with beft reafon, be thought fuit- 
able to fuch highly rational and fuperior natures. Now if from 
the experience of many grofs delufions of a fuperftitious kind, 
the courfe of this fear begins to turn ; it is natural for it to run 
with equal violence, a contrary way 5 the extreme paffion for 



( 217 ) 



To this the apoftle adds a good confcience, which 
is almoft the fame as the pure heart, of which we 
have fpoken ; for to love God with a good con- 
fcience is to love him fmcerely, free from fcrupulo- 
fity, without fraud, without hypocrify, without a 
mixture of intereft, without dependence on felf-love. 
* It is to love him neither with a tranfient impetuo- 

religious objects parTes into an averfion. And a certain horror 
and dread of impofiure caufes as great a difturbance as even im» 
pofture it/elf had done before. In fucb a fituation as this the mind 
may be eafily blinded, as well in one reipecl as the other. 

* A good confcience is free from guile, fcmpulofity. felf- 
intereft, &c. The two following inftances have always appeared 
to me ignorant, interested, fraud ful, and replete with the fcru- 
pulofity of thofe, who ftrained at a gnat, and fwallowed a camel* 
The Rev. Robert Foulkes, minifter of the parifb of Stanton- 
Lacy, in the county of Salop, debauched a young lady, murder- 
ed his baftard child by her, and was executed for this horrible 
fact Jan. 16, 1679. In his confeffion, he fays, u It is a great 
aggravation of my fin againft that poor infant, that I, whofe 
concern it was to provide for its fafety in all refpetls, fhould in 
all deprive it, as far as in me lay ; for by that barbarous acl: upon 
its body, 1 have done what in me lay to murder its ioul, by de- 
priving it of the ordinary means, which God had ordained for its 
falvation, the facrament of baptifm" As if God had left the eter- 
nal ftate of the foul of an infant to the cruel, adulterous care 
of a vile parifh-prieft ! As if a man. who made no fcruple of 
violating the eternal rule of moral rectitude, fhould hefitate to 
omit a human invention ! Alarm for Jtnnefs by Foulkes, publi/hed 
by Dr Lloyd, Dean of Bangor* 

John Marketman was executed for the murder of his wife at 
Weft-Ham, in Eflex, April 17, 1680. He died a penitent, it 
feems; and the vicar of the parifh, who preached a fermon on 
the occafion, deduced his laft crime, and fo his punifhment, from 
a very odd principle. " The beginning of this poor man's fin, 
and confequently of his mifery, was his negiecT: of God's public 
worlhip, as it is adminiftered in the church of England, which he 
bitterly confefTed to thofe, that did attend him during his con- 
finement." I thought, at firft, the man had gone to a conventicle, 
yet what conventicle, thought I, teaches men to murder their 
wives ? But I find by the fequeh he went to no place of wormip: 
but fpent his Sundays at an alehoufe, a practice encouraged by 
thofe furious Church of England-men, James I. and Charles I. 

Ee 



{ 218 ) 



fity, nor with the imperfect: defires of enjoying his 
communion and prefence ; but with a real and faith- 
ful application to all, that regards his glory, to the 
obedience of his commands, and the obfervation of 
his laws. In one word, it is fo to love him as to be 
able to affure ourfelves, that we do love him, fo that 
when we examine ourfelves on this point we may be 
able to fatisfy our own minds. * 

by the book of fports. The beginning of his fin, therefore, was 
his neglect of God's public worfhip : not his neglect: of that pe- 
culiar manner of worshipping God, which is practifed in the 
church of England, as the eftablifhment calls itfelf. If this be 
confcience, it is confcience in jail! Ignorance, intereft, partiality, 
bigotry, fcrupulofity, imprifon it! Hollingworth's Sermon on Mar- 
ket's repentance* 

*<< We fhould fo love God as to be able to allure ourfelves that 
we do love him." In the fyftem of our old divines, perfonal e- 
lection ptoduceth particular redemption, particular redemption 
produceth effectual calling, effectual calling final perfeverance, 
and on the promife of the final perfeverance of the faints they 
ground the doctrine of ajfurance. Later divines, who embrace 
the Arminian and Socinian explication of fcripture, as they de- 
ny the former doctrines, fo they neceffarily difcard this of af- 
furance : but I do not think, thefe difputants do juftice to each 
others thefes. " AfTurance, fays fome, is contrary to fcripture, 
to the nature of God, to found morality,, and to all human dili- 
gence in the falvation of the foul." " Aflurance, fay others, is 
fo far from making true believers proud, carnal and fecure, that 
it is, on the contrary, a fountain of untverfal holinefs." See 
Pelt ii Harmon. Remonft. et Socin. de per fever ent, et certit. Salut, 

Both fides affirm a fact, and both may affirm a true fact : but 
both cannot affirm the fame fact. The difpute originates in the 
vague meaning of the term. Perfeverance may be confidered as 
a promife, or as 2*. practice. As a promife it lies in Scripture, and to 
believe that it does lie there operates nothing, and people, who 
believe this, may live in fin. As a practice, a duty, or a pri- 
vilege, it refides in the chrljlian, expands his mind, warms his 
heart, and mends his life. Both fides allow, that it is the duty 
of a chriftian to perfevere in holinefs, and that a holy man may 
affure himfelf of the favour and protection of God. Mr Claude 
makes aflurance arife from love, and herein he agrees with all 
our belt divines, who affirm, that true faving faith always works 
by love. 



( 219 ) 

In fine, S. Paul fays, this love proceeds from faith 
unfeigned, which means that faith is the parent of this 
love, for it is from the knowledgeand perfuafion, which 
we have, of God's love towards us, that this love a- 
rifes in our hearts both to God and man. You may 
here fummarily relate what fcripture teaches us con- 
cerning the ineffable abundance of God's love to us, 
particularly in giving us his fon, and his holy fpirit, 
which are the two moft admirable fruits of the love 
of God. Obferve alfo what a perfect and fupremely 
amiable idea of the divinity faith gives us, in oppo- 
fition to the imperfe£t light of nature ; and remark 
alfo, that this faith mult be unfeigned, true and live- 
ly , not confifting in a bare fpeculation of gofpel-my- 
fteries : but in an extenfive practical knowledge of 
chriftian doctrines, and in a full perfuafion of the truth 
of divine revelation. In this manner limple terms 
fhould be difcufled. * 

* "In this manner fimple terms mould be difcu^^ed. , ' This in-" 
ftrudive way of explicitly difcuffing the terms of fcripture, well 
and judicioufly executed, is full of edification : on the contrary, 
what an abfurdity when conftantly, and without any neceffity, 
original terms are racked and tortured, fometimes to the no fmail 
pleafure of the pedantic executioner, frequently to the great 
pain of the intelligent hearer? 

There are many very difficult texts in fcripture, the whole 
obfcurity of which proceeds from one Jingle term. A fludious 
young minifter will examine in private the opinions of others 
on thefe terms, and there he may give full play to his own in- 
vention and erudition, in order to elucidate thefe pafiages : but 
he ought by no means to venture his conjectures in public, till 
they have been maturely examined, and approved by allowed 
judges. 

^ I will exemplify my meaning by a few examples of elucida- 
tions very probable : but not generally received. The woman 
ought to have power on her head, becaufe of the angels. I Cor. xi. 10. 
A certain writer would have us read, A woman ought to have 
a veil on her head, becaufe of the young men. He fuppofes a cor- 
ruption of the original writing. Jac. Goihofredi de lmp y Maris, 
cap. 3. 

E e 2 



( 220 ) 



When there are many fimple terms in a text, you 
muft confider, whether it would not be more proper 
to treat of them comparatively with each other, than 
to difcufs them feparately or each apart; for fometimes 
it would be very injudicious to difcufs them feparate- 
ly, and very agreeable to do it by compar'ifon. Take 
for example S. Luke's words, chap. ii. 8, 9, io, 11. 
" And there were in the fame country fhepherds abi- 
ding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by 
night. And lo ! the angel of the Lord came upon 
them, and the glory of the Lord {hone round about 
them ; and they were fore afraid. And the angel 
faid unto them, Fear not j ; for behold ! I bring you 
good tidings of great joy, which fhall be to all peo- 
ple. For unto you is born this day, in the city of 

t( Mat. xi. 12. The kingdom of heaven fufrereth violence, 
and the violent take it by force." The Jews called a man, who 
took his own part of an inheritance, and that of a coheir alfo, 
A fon of violence. (Talmud in Jam- 1. 4. 30.) The kingdom of 
heaven, or the gofpel, was an inheritance to be divided between 
Jews and Gentiies. The Jews refilling to accept a fhare, the 
Gentiles, like fons of violence eagerly took the whole." Ac- 
cording- to this we fhould read, the kingdom of heaven is embraced, 
by the Gentiles, Gregory's Works, chap. v. Ben Hamifen. 

" 2 Sam. v. 8. Iki LAME and the BLIND /ball not come into 
the houfe—the LAME and the BLIND are hated of David's foul ; 
that is, IDOLS, /hall not come, IMAGES are hated, Sec. The pagan 
founders of cities and caftles pra£tifed judicial aftrology, and 
laid the fir ft ft one under a luckj- pofition of the heavens. The 
blind and the lame here were confiellated images of brafs, to which 
as to idol-gcds, the fafety of the fort was entrufted* If thefe 
fail to protect us, fay the Jebufites, they fhall be put up in our 
houfes no more. They will fail, faith David, they are blind, 
they have eyes and fee not, they are idols, 77 Sec. Sec. Pirke Eliezer, 
cap. ixxvii. 

Expofitors of this caft feem to follow the quaint advice of one 
of our old doctors of divinty« " As David flew Goliah by hitting 
him in the forehead, fo we muft gather ftones out of God's 
holy brook, that is, his holy book, and fling them at the devil's 
head." Di Boys's Expofition of the Dominical Epiftles, firft 
Sunday in Lent. 



( 221 ) 



David, a Saviour, which is Chrift the Lord." In my 
opinion it would be very abfurd to pretend to treat 
feparately thefe Ample terms, in order to explain what 
is a Jhepherd^ and what is an angel, &c * But a com* 
parifon of thefe terms, with each other would afford 
very beautiful and agreeable confiderations, as will 
appear by the following analyfis of the text. Let it 
then be divided into two parts, let the firft be the ap- 
pearance of the angels to the fhepherds with all the 
circumftances, which the hiftory remarks : and the 

* It is fometimes very abfurd to difcufs terms feparately. Some 
divines difcover a fuperftitious attachment to terms, and under- 
take to expound the Scriptures without admitting thofe figures, 
which all found critics allow, fuch as the ellipfis, which leaves 
out a word, the pleonajm, which inferts too much, and the f~ 
nallage, which changes the time of a verb, Sec. Sometimes the 
idiom of a language accounts for thefe, fometimes the miftakes 
of copyifts, and at other times no reafon can be affigned, and 
yet to make fenfe of a tranflation the alteration muftbe allowed, 
The following examples from a foreign profeflbr will exempli- 
fy my meaning. 

In the Hebrew text of Pfal. ix. 18. there is evidently a pleo- 
nafm, a redundancy of expreffion, for rendered literally it is, and 
he, he fiall judge the world. Our tranflators faw nothing here 
but a pleonafm, and very properly rendered; and he flmll judge 
the tuGrld. But the profeflbr fays, " the pronoun is mod empha- 
tically necefiary here. Jefus Chrift is the he, — he, who is the 
image of the Father, — he (hall judge the world/' 

Again, Pfal. cix. 4. The wicked are my adverfariss — but I prayer* 
This is a literal tranflation of the Hebrew. Critics allow, at 
firft fight an ellipfis, and fupply fomething to exprefs the plalm- 
ift's meaning. Some read, I am a man of prayer. Our tranflators 
render it, / give myfelf unto prayer. But the profeflbr fays, (i It 
muft be read, / am prayer, Jefus Chrift is the perfon fpeaking, 
and as he fays, I am the way, becaufehe taught us the way, and 
I am the truth, becaufe he taught us the truth, fo he fays, 1 am, 
prayer, becaufe he is our interceflbr." Luther ufed to call thofe 
divines Anaxagorifts, who found Jefus Chrift in every text of 
Scripture. I dare fay, love to Jefus Chrift induces expofitors of 
this kind to introduce him every where : but it is really very 
mortifying to fee every breach in rules of common-fenfe filled 
up with his illufirious name ! Sam. Fred. Bucheri Antiq. Prof. 
Wittemberg. Antiquitates Biblical 



( 222 } 

fecond, the angels mejfage to them. The firft is con- 
tained in the eighth and ninth verfes, and the fecond 
in the tenth and eleventh. 

As to the firft, you may juft fay, that you will not 
flop curioufly to enquire who thefe fhepherds were, 
nor who this angel of the Lord was, nor why the 
angel came to thefe fhepherds rather than to others : 
the two firft are queftions of fact, and the Scripture 
lays nothing about them, and it would be rafh to de- 
termine, befides it would be of very little importance 
to our edification. * As to the third no other reafon 

* It is ram and unedifying to determine queftions on which 
the Scripture is filent. The church of Rome abounds with bold 
and adventurous, not to fay profane decifions of this kind. The 
following texts, with the popifh comments, will exemplify 
this. 

Luke ii. 8. There were fiepherds abiding in the field. <: There 
were four, and their names were Mifael, Achael, Cvriacus* and 
Stephanus." Miflal Rom. 

Mat. ii. i. Wife men came from the east. <c They were three, 
they were kings, and their names were Jafpar, Melchior, Bal- 
thazar." Miffal. Rem, 

Mat. ii. ii. The wife men presented to him gold, frank-incense, 
and myrrh. " Jofeph paid his tribute with one part of the gold, 
kept our lady while fhe lay in with a fecond, and gave a third to 
the poor. The incenfe he burnt in the ft able to put away the 
ilench. With the myrrh our lady anointed her child to keep 
him from worms.'' Feftivale. In Die Epiph. 

Luke ii. 7. Alary laid her son in a manger c< Oxen and affes 
were there at the time, and when our Lord lay in the cratch, 
they fell down on their knees, and ate no more of the hay." 

m 

There are, however, many popular errors in chrifl ianity, 
which, becaufe of their dangerous confequences, deferve to be 
exploded. The fytiems of divines, like thofe of the heathen 
philofophers, often originated in the tempers and views of the 
men, who invented them ; the exposition of fcripture, and the 
quotation of parTages in profane authors, to fupport them, were 
after-thoughts. I will explain my meaning by an example or 
two. 

The beft plan in the world, for a difinterefted lover of real 
chriltianity to follow, is that of the excellent profefTor Buddeus. 
His aim is to difcover the do&rine, the manner of teaching, the 



( 223 ) 

can be given than the good pleafure of God. P a f- 
fing then to more ufeful confiderations, you may re- 
mark, that this meeting of the angel and fhepherds 
was not accidental or by chance, but by the order of 
the providence of God, who there placed the fhep- 
herds, and thither fent his angel. You may amplify 
this by fhewing, ' 
I. That God caufes his grace to defcend not onlv 
upm the great and powerful of the -world- but 
alfo on the mojlfimple and inconfiderable ; juft as the 
heavens difFufe their influence not only on great trees 
but alfo on the moft inconfiderable herbs. God does 
not abfolutely rejed the potentates of the earth • when 
he pleafes, he calls kings and princes to the obed-'ence 
of faith; neither does he reject the poor. Jefu, 
Chrift, who favourably heard the prayer of a Jairus 
ruler of a fynagogue, and of a lord of the court who 
mtreated him to heal their children, did not reied the 
prayer of the poor woman of Canaan, nor offer any 

difputes, the ordinances, the morals, &c. &c nf n 
church, and to derive all his notions' of each fom V^ 0 '' 0 
writings. I fpeak of his Ecclefia Ap^UcTjenlTn $T °™ 

On this principle another Lutheran writer of nrL £ i. 
doftrines of chriftianity. Each article of faith J?, ., 2 " 3 ** 
thefis-divides it into diftinaparamphlSnd ^ 8068 * S a 
demonftrate each by fcripture alonf This Ts an ^TT * 
thod, for befide a thoufand other advantages Tt m.fff "u me " 
membered, fcripture decifion is plain and fo'a a T d fer * r ?" 
articles of pure revelation no appeal from it f tt tl !" 
fliorteft way. We have fomethL of this kinH \ '-r 
^^Sovereignty of Go,, h EUj, a ^gt?%2gj* 

ed it by turningW all "into ^S^ath*^^' 
almoft a proverb al favino- that in ttt, f f 11 ls become 
ment CoLus finds cHfi^ ite S °/ ° ld Teft =~ 
no where. The firft part of this S\ P^" us meets h ™ 

m much m fo.». %M^tJX. c!S.t> 2 the laN 



( 224 ) 



repulfe to that blind and miferable beggar, who cried, 
Jefus, fon of David, have mercy upon me. * 

2. Methinks, it feems as if God took more pleafure 
in beftowing his favours on the moft abjecl than in 
diftributing them among perfons of elevated rank. / 
thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that 
thou hajl bid thefe things from the wife and prudent, 
and haft revealed them to babes, faid our Lord Jefus. 
And the apoftle to the Corinthians adds, Ye fee your 
calling , that not many wife men after the flefh, not 
many mighty, not many noble are called. Here is an 
example ; for, while God fent the wife men of the 
Eaft to Herod, he- fent an angel of heaven to the 
fhepherds, and conducted them to the cradle of the 
Saviour of the world* % f 

* " Jefus Chrift, who healed the children of Jairus and a cour- 
tier, did not refufe relief to a blind beggar." Mr Claude pro- 
pofes thefe ufeful remarks, he fays, rather than any trite and un- 
edifying obfervations, which might be made on palfages of this 
kind. 

f " God takes moft pleafure in beftowing his favours on the 
moft abjecl:." The common Father of all, infinitely fuperior to 
all human motives, ftrictly fpeaking, cannot be faid to take 
more pleafure in a poor than in a rich convert ; all his works are 
infinitely wife in their plan, and good in their execution, and 
his felicity is neceffarily invariable : but our author means to in- 
form us, that the Gofpel, by conferring its higheft favours on 
fuperior piety, and not on fuperior rank, has removed the feeming 
difgrace of poverty, and peculiarly difplays the goodnefs of God 
by invigorating the poor, whom all other fyftems of knowledge, 
and all expenfive religions deprefs. 

" The primitive chriftians were poor in the bulk, 2 Cor. viii. 
I, 2. — the apoftles were of the loweft rank, I Cor. ii. 26. born 
in an obfcure province, A&s ii. 7. Johnvii. 41. exercifing mean 
occupations, and keeping low company. AcT:s x. 6. xviii. 3. — 
There were, indeed, fome exceptions, there was Nicodemus, 
Jofeph of Arimathea, the treafurer of the queen of Ethiopia, 
Cornelius, Apollos, Sergius Paulus the proconful, Dionyfius the 
Areopagite, a prophet, who had been brought up with Herod, 
and there were faints in Csefar's houlhould. — All the apoftles, 
except St Paul, were illiterate, as well as poor ; nor did # their 



( 225 ) 



3. In this meeting of the angels and fhepherds you 
fee a perpetual character of the {economy of Jefus 
Chrift, wherein the higheft and moft fublime things 
are joined with the meaneM and loweft. In his per- 
fon the eternal word is united to a creature, the divine 
nature to the human, infinity to infirmity, in one 
word, the Lord of Glory to mean flefh and blood. 
In his baptifm he is plunged in the water, and the 
Father fpeaks to him from heaven ; he is under the 
hand of John the Baptift and the Holy Ghoft de- 
fcends upon him. In his temptation he hungers, yet 
miraculoufly fupports a faft of forty days : the devil, 
tempts him, and angels obey him. On his orois na- 
ked, crowned with thorns, and expofed to farrows, 
yet at the fame time fhaking the earth and eclipfing 
the fun. Here in like manner angels are familiar with 
Ihepherds : angels to mark his majefty, fhepherds his 

infpiration endow them with human erudition, In proof of this 
laft article, three things are to be obferved. I. The Lord, ac- 
cording to his promife, infpired them with the knowledge of all 
the truths, that were neceflary for the edification of his 
church, and the propagation of the gofpel : but this promife did 
not extend to the doctrines of hydroftatics, fluxions, philology, 
&c. — 2. Their writings afford proof of the want of human eru- 
dition and eloquence, particularly thofe of St John, and their 
hiftorian allows Peter and John to have been agrammatoi after 
the day of Pentecoft, A£ts iv. 13. All this does not imply that 
they were not good, true, fafe, clear authors, and fine natural 
orators. — 3. The gift of tongues, which enabled them to ren- 
der themfelves intelligible to people of different naijah-s, did not 
lead them into the erudition and oratory of each ^nation. — All 
this ceconomy was moft excellently adapted to the general plan 
of redemption, the defign of which was to deftroy the empire of 
the paflions — to elevate men to the ftudy of heavenly things — 
to eftablim a kingdom not of this world. God in all is maxi- 
mus in minimis /' Moft of thefe are the remarks of a learned 
profeffor of divinity at Florence, and in many of them he agrees 
with our firft apologifts, Origen, Arnobius, Minucius Felix, 
&c. Joan. Lami de Eruditkme Apoftolorum. cap. 2. v. xv. 
xiv. 

F f 



{ 226 ) 



humility : angels becaufe he is creator and matter of 
all things, fhepherds becaufe he made himfelf of no 
reputation, and took upon himfelf the form of a fer- 
vant. 

4; This miffion of angels to fhepherds relates to 
the end, for which the fon of God came into the 
world, for he came to eftablifh a communion between 
God and men, and to make peace between men and 
angels* To this muft be referred what S. Paul fays, 
// pkafed the Father by him to reconcile all things to 
himfelf. f 

After this you may make a proper reflection on the 
time mentioned by S. Luke, who fays, The fhepherds 
were abiding in the field, keeping watch over their 
flock by night. You may briefly make the ordinary 
obfervation, which is, that, according to all appearan* 

* Reconcile all things. Col. u 26. Reconciliaret omnia, i. e. 
recolligeret, fub tmum caput reduceret, et in unum corpus con- 
jungeret. 

Turn qua in terra, turn qua in ccelis. In confeffo apud inter- 
pretes eft, homines hie dici, et angelos ; nec obftat quod panta. 
hie fit neutrius generis, quia neutrum faepe pro mafculino poni- 
tur, ut GaLiii. 22. Conjun&io eite disjun£Hva,non hie feper au- 
di, fed diftinguendi tantum, imo et conjungendi vim habet. 
Grot. 

The Father propofed to reconcile all things in heaven, and all 
in earth, unto himfelf by Jefus Chrift. Calvin rightly calls this 
magnificum Chrifti ehgittm. Some fuppofe, St Paul includes all 
intelligent creatures, even the devils themfelves, in this reconci- 
liation : but this fenfe deftroys the do&rine of future punifh- 
ments. Moft expofitors underftand the apoftle to include holy 
angels : but how they, who never finned, can be faid to be re- 
conciled, is difficult to anfwer. The mediation of Jefus Chrift 5 
indeed, has opened a communion between angels, and men ; the 
former ferve the latter in this life, and the latter dwell with the 
former in the next : but this, fays our reformer, does not agree 
with St Paul's words ; he fays, God reconciled heavenly beings 
to himfelf by Jefus Chrift. He underftands it therefore of re- 
deeming grace to men ? and confirming grace to elect angels* 
Calvin in he. 



( 227 ) 



ees, Jefus Chrift was not bom on the 25th of Decem- 
ber, as is the common opinion of the Latin church ; 
for that is an improper time to keep flocks in the 
fields, and to watch them by night : but this need not 
be infilled on ; for it is of no great importance, nor 
would it be to our edification, to know precifely when 
the Saviour of the world was born : the time is very 
indifferent to chriftians. * It is more to thepurpofe 
to remark, 

1 . That while thefe fhepherds were bufy in their 
calling, God fent his angel to them ; and that, how- 
ever fimple and mean the employments of men may 
be, it is always very pleafing to God when they dis- 
charge them with a good confcience. *f 

2. God does in regard to men what thefe fhepherds 
did in regard to their fheep. He is the great Shep- 
herd of mankind, watching over them by his provi- 
dence. He had his eyes upon thefe men, and, in 
a proper and feafonable time gave them an angelical 
envoy as a token of his love. It is of great ufe both 
to direct our duty and to comfort our hearts, to re- 
member that what we are in our vocation God is to 
us, A father called to conduct his family ought to 
remember that God himfelf is his father. A magi* 
{Irate exalted above the people fhould alfo confider 
that God is his mafter ; and fo of other profeffions. 
This on the one hand would engage us to difcharge 

* " The time of the birth of Chrift is very indifferent to 
chriftians." The times of the birth and paffion of Chrift, with 
fuch like niceties, being not material to religion, were little re- 
garded by chriftians of the firft age, 

f "God is pleafed when men difcharge the duties of their 
calling. 5 ' A proper attention to this plain but ufeful truth 
would have prevented that fcandal of chriflianity, a monadic 
life. The reformation of this abufe will be an eternal praife 
to the reformers, and the prote&ion of it a perpetual reproach 
to the church of Rome. 

Ff 2 



( m ) 



our duties well, if we would enjoy the bleffings of 
providence ; and on the other it would confolate and 
exhilarate us, for we may be certain, God will pay 
fuch attention to us, as we do to the things and per- 
ibns comitted to our care, and infinitely more. A 
good father may affure himfelf, that, while he dis- 
charges his duty to his children, God will watch o- 
ver him. A good prince may think the fame. It ex- 
tends- to the meaneft conditions, even a good fhepherd 
may take the fame comfort. * 

* If we would enjoy the bleliings of Providence we muft 
difcharge our duty. For doing fo God gave Cyrus the treajures 
of darkne/S) the hidden riches of the Babylonian temple. Ifai. xlv. 
3. Becaufe Nebuchadnezzar performed a great fervice at Tyre, 
he was rewarded with the whole land of Egypt ; for, fays the 
prophet, he and his army had no wages at Tyre ; the Tyrians es- 
caping by fea with all their effects while he befieged their city 
by land. Ezek. xxix. 18, 19,20. 

ProfefTor Turretin makes fome very juft, and necefTary ob- 
fervations on this Subject. " Mat. vi. 33. Seek ye firft the king- 
dom of God, and his righteoufnefs, and all thefe things mail be 
added to you." Hence arifes this enquiry, " In what manner 
ought chriftian minifters to enforce the doctrines of religion by 
motives taken from temporal advantages?" Some divines defcribe 
the ftate of believers in this life as a ftate of perpetual affliction 
and infelicity? Others enlarge too much on the temporal ad- 
vantages of piety, and Bellarmine makes the temporal felicity of 
the defenders of the church one evidence of the true church. In 
regard to the firft extreme— the thefis is unwarrantable, for 1. 
It is contrary to experience. 2. The paffages, from which they, 
who maintain it, reafon, regard only fome particular feafons. 3. 
It is injurious to thegoodnefs of God. 4. It, is hurtful to piety, 
for it difcourages the weak; The fecond method is an oppofite 
extreme, for 1. Jefus Chrift and his apoftles propofed different 
motives. 2. It does not accord with the genius and defign of the 
gofpel. 3. It confounds the difpenfation of the go/pel with that 
of the law. 4. It is contrary to experience. 5. It is injurious to a 
great many pious perfons, who are opprefied with afflictions. 6. 
gives infidels an occafion to ridicule religion. 
What then, are we never to ufe motives taken from tempor- 
al advantages ? Yes, they ought to be ufed : but ufed, however, 
with the following precautions. Previous to thefe, remark two 
plain principles. 1. Temporal advantages, ftri&ly ipeaking, are 



( 229 ) 



Remark a fecond circumftance, The glory of the 
Lord fliining around the fhepherds. Here you may 
oblerve, 

i . That when angels borrow human forms to ap- 
peal* to men (as it is likely this angel did, when lie 
appeared to the fhepherds) they have always appeared 
with fome enftgns of grandeur and majefty, to fhew 
that they were not men but angels, that is to fay, 
beings of a fuperior order. * 

not evangelical promifes.2. Piety and virtue naturally, and by a 
wife conftitution of things, are attended with many temporal ad- 
vantages , and, on the contrary, vice induces mifery. — Preach- 
ers, then, mould I. Conlider thefe advantages only as confe- 
quences of the natural conftitution of things, and not as gofpel- 
promifes. %. Allow, there are many exceptions. 3. Exhort chri- 
itians to pray for thefe advantages conditionally, if their enjoy- 
ment of them may be for the glory of God. 4. Never propofe 
them as principal motives to piety : but always fix the attention 
of their auditors on fpiritual and eternal bleflings. Finally, ob- 
ferve how Jefus Chrift propofes thefe advantages in the text. 
He fpeaks of only the neceflaries of life, he propofes them only 
•as appendages to greater bleffings, and he does fo rather to ac- 
commodate himfelf to our weaknefs, than to exprefs any dignity 
in the objects themfelves." Diflerta. theol. de Mo: if. Jurretin, 
torn. ii. Dif. 4. 

Thefe wife and juft remarks are applicable to a thoufand 
theological fubje£ts : but there is one, where they {hine with pe- 
culiar luftre, that is the doctrine of univerfal toleration. Univer- 
sal love is certainly a chriftian difpofition ; this naturally expands 
into univerfal toleration, and both mould be enforced on chri^ 
ftians by various evangelical motives, and alfo by motives of 
terejl taken from the many temporal advantages, that follow. 
Temporal felicity does not always attend a defender of one com-* 
munity of chriftians; but it does always accompany a Jlate^ that 
protects univerfal religious liberty. 

* Angels are beings of a fuperior order. Our author has au- 
thority from fcripture for this proportion, thou haft made man a 
little lower than angels, Pfal. viii. 5. It may be collected from 
the holy fcriptures — that incorporeal intelligent beings do exiji 
— that they are divilible in a moral view into two claiTes, fome 
poflefling very high degrees of moral excellence, and others & 
great extreme of moral turpitude— that both are employed 'in exe- 
cuting the will of the Supreme Governor of the world, the firft 



( 230 ) 



Thus the angels, who appeared at ChrifVs refur- 
reclion, were clothed with Jhining garments : and 
fo were they, who appeared to the difciples after his 
afcenfion. Here the angel is accompanied with a 
great light Jhining around the fhepherds, 

2. The appearance of this light to the fhepherds 

as minifters of the divine bounty, the laft as inftruments of his 
juft difpkafure, both in the christian ceconomy being under the 
immediate government of Jefus Chrift. 

The notion of an angelical hierarchy originated among the 
heathens, (See JambUchus> Hierocles, and others.) The Jews a- 
dopted it, and divided the heavenly holt into ten orders, (See 
Mairnoti de fund, leg,) and chriflians have aifo embraced the no- 
tion, and ufually diflribute them into nine daffes. " Novem or- 
dines diximus, quia videlicet effe, teftante facro eloquio, fcimus an- 
gelos, archangeios, virtutes, potentates, principatus, domina- 
tiones, thronos, cherubim, atque feraphim- — Cherubim, atque 
feraphim, fsepelibri^r^Zv/^rwrnioquuntur — efle angelos et arch- 
angeios psne omnes facri eloquii pagince teftantur — Quinque or- 
dinum Paulus enumerat." Qregcr. Pap. Horn, xxxiv. 

Petavius endeavours to confirm this notion by the teftimonies 
of the fathers, by the traditions of the Jews, and by the words 
of S Paul. Eph.i. 21. Col. i. 16. Petav. op. torn. iii. cap. 1, &c. 
de angelis. 

Nothing on this fubjetl: can be collected from the words of 
S Paul in the fore-cited palTages, for, as a learned writer has 
well obferved, the apoftle ufed fome of the fame terms for ad- 
verfe powers, againft which chriftians wreftle, Eph. vi- 12. 
Videant igitur> ne quid errent, qui eadem vocabula ad potentates 
cceleftes transferunt. Paulus hsec non tarn ponere, quam ex 
rraereticorum fermonibus accepta oblique inducere videtur. 
Thorn. Galaei not. ad Jamb, de 'My ft. Egypt. 

Many rafh opinions have been held of the nature — number 
. — language-^-and guardianlhip of angels, and many, who have 
maintained them, have endeavoured to prefs fcripture into their 
fervice ; but the word tale, that can be told on this fubjecl, is, 
one great community of chriftians luor/Jjips them. See Tennifon 
on idolatry — Spanheim de Imagin, Sec. 

A very learned foreign divine divides the doctrine of angels 
into ten parts. In the firft he confiders their names— in the fe- 
cond their exiftence and origin— in the third their nature — the 
fourth regards fallen angels — the fifth the place of angels— the 
fixth their number — the feventh their order — the eighth their 
mini/try — the ninth the worjljip of them—and the tenth the angel 
cj Jehovah, Jefus Chrift. 



( 231 ) 

In the night may very well be taken* for a mj/ftical 
fymboL Night reprefents the corrupt ftate of man- 
kind, when Jefus Chrift came into the world ; a ftate 
of ignorance and error. Depravity and mifery are 
aptly enough fignified by the profound darknefs of 
the night, and light fitly reprefents the falutary grace 
of Jefus Chrift, which Tie brought, when he defend- 
ed into this world. This grace has dilfipated the 
gloomy obfcurities, that enveloped the whole earth; 
inftead of ignorance and error the gofpel has given 
us the true knowledge of God ; and inftead of the 
corruption and mifery, in which we were immerfed, 
it has afforded us holinefs, hope, and joy. 

3. Remark alfo, that the angel of the Lord ap- 
peared in glory to the fhepherds, when they neither 
expe&ed nor thought of fuch a favour. Thus God 
frequently deals with his children, he bellows on them 
his greateft blellings when they leaft expert them. 
It is particularly true, that Jefus Chrift was given to 
men, when they did not think of him, and when 
their thoughts were all employed about other fub- 
je&s. 

The third remarkable circumftance in the text, 
is the great fear^ w T ith which the fhepherds were 
feized. 

1. This was an efte£r. of their great furpri%e. 
"When grand objedts fuddenly prefent themfelves to 
us, they muft needs fill us with aftonifhment and 
fear ; for the mind on thefe occafions is not at liberty 
to exert its force, on the contrary its ftrength is dilfi- 
pated, and during this diffipation it is impoffible not 
to fear. 

2. This fear alfo arifes from emotions of confcience. 
Man is by nature a finner, and confequently an ob- 
ject of the juftice and vengeance of God; when, there- 



( 232 ) 

fore, any thing extraordinary and divine appears to 
him, he neceffarily trembles. While God does not 
manifeft himfelf to him, he remains infenfible of his 
fin : but when God difcovers himfelf to him, he a- 
wakes to feeling, and draws nigh to God as a trem- 
bling criminal approaches his judge, or as a rebellious 
fubjecT: fhudderingly meets the prefence of his incen- 
fed Lord. * This may be exemplified by Adam, 
who. having finned, fled, and the moment he heard 
the voice of God, hid himfelf: or by the Ifraelites, 
who were terrified, when God appeared to them up- 
on the mountain : and hence that proverbial faying 
among them, we Jhall die for we have feen God. 

3. The fhepherds had indeed juft reafon to fear, 
when they faw before them an angel of heaven fur- 
rounded with the enfigns of his majefty, for angels 

* A penitent draws nigh to God as a criminal approaches his 
judge. The firft emotions of a penitent's confcience are ufually 
excited by objects of fear ; thus Noah being moved with fear, [of 
periihing in the deluge] prepared an ark for fafety. Heb, xi. 7. 
Our divines diftinguifh zjlavi/b from a filial fear, the firft pro- 
duces a legal, the laft an evangelical repentance ; and, it is allow- 
ed, the converfion of a (inner often begins in the firft, although 
it cannot be complete without the laft. The divines of the church 
of Rome have long difputed thefe articles under the names 
attrition and contrition. By attrition they mean that grief for fin, 
which arifeth from fear of punijhment ; and that forrow for fin, 
which arifeth from a dejtre to pleafe God, they call contrition. 
Some affirm, contrition is ejfential to falvation ; others make at- 
trition fufficient : but this laft feems a grofs error ; for if at- 
trition alone be fufficient to falvation, a man, who d<aes not love 
God may be faved. The divines of this church C2nnot agree 
whether the council of Trent have decided this controverfy; 
it mould feem the council hath not determined it ; and, it is 
certain, that for half a century the greateft number of popular 
divines were attritionifts. A very learned writer afcribes their 
error to their negligence of the ftudy of fcripture — to their 
miflaking fome pafTages in the council of Trent — to their ridi- 
culous attachment to fome leading men, whom they took for 
f racks— and to other fimilar caufes. Oeuvres ds Motif. De Launou 



( 233 ) 



had formerly been the mhiiflers of God's vengeance^ 
the executioners of his judgments upon men. They 
knew, that an angel with a flaming fword had been 
placed at the gate of paradife for ever to prohibit the 
re-entrance of the firft {inner. They had heard of 
thofe angels, who fcattered fire from heaven over the 
five cities of the plain, and reduced them to afhes. 
They had heard what one angel did in Egypt, when 
he flew the firft-born ; and what another performed 
in Senacherib's army, in one night flaying one hun- 
dred and fourfcore thoufand men. Was it ftrange 
then that they were fore afraid f On this occafion 
thefe fad examples of the divine vengeance executed 
by angels might in a moment arife to view,, and incline 
them to apprehend, that this angel had received a like 
order to deftroy them. * 

But, as the thoughts of God are far different from 

* The fhepherds knew thofe fad examples of divine vengeance 
recorded in fcripture. Our author fuppofes in all this, that the 
Jewifh laity had free accefs to fcripture ; and that they had alfo 
a right of private judgment in regard to the meaning of it. 
Some Roman catholic writers have pretended, in order to give 
their denial of fcripture to the laity a fancYimonious air, that 
the Jewifh fcriptures were not read by the laity. Julius Barto- 
locciusy Hebrew profeffor at Rome, has done this : but he and 
all others have been fully anfwered by Bifhop U/her, and by 
his continuator Wharton. They have proved, that there were 
many tranllations of the fcriptures before the time of Chrift, 
and that the Jews were extremely tenacious of teaching them to 
their children, fervants, and profelytes. Hijl. Dogmat. de fcript. 

! et Jac. vernaculis UJferi. Ed. Hen. Wharton, cap. i. 

j One would fuppofe, the laity have as much right to fludy 
theology as the clergy have to itudy mathematics ; and, certain 
it is, theology is much indebted to fuch men as Locke, Newton^ 
Grotius, HeinfiuSy Cafaubcn, Vat alius, Drufius, Seidell, Scaliger 3 
and other laymen. Was not our noble Alexandrian manufcxipt 
written by Thecla, an Egyptian lady? Did not a woman inftrutt 
Apollos ? Was not the greater part of holy fcripture written by 
women and laymen? And, to fay all in one word, was the fooimder 
of our holv religion a clergyman ? 

G g 



( 2»4 ) 



the thoughts of men, thefe poor fhepherds did not 
long remain in this ftate : but joy prefently fucceeded 
their fear. Fear not, faid the angel, behold I I bring 
you glad tidings. Agreeable furprize ! far different 
from what will befal finners at the laft day, for when 
they cry Peace, peace, then fudden dejlrucllon Jhall 
co?ne upon them : but here, when the fhepherds trem- 
bled, when they were feized with a dreadful horror, 
which made them apprehend all danger, forth iflues 
the greateft of all joys, the moft affe&ing of all con- 
folations, the news of the birth of the Saviour of the 
world. 

Proceed now to the fecond part of the text ; the 
angel's dlfcourfe to the fhepherds. And obferve, 

i, The angel fays to them, Fear not. He ufes 
this preface to gain their attention, which fear (no 
doubt.) had alfiioft entirely diflipated. Fear is a 
paffion,which chills the fpirits, enervates the foul, and 
envelops our underftanding in a midnight gloom, in- 
capacitating us both for action and thought : to reco- 
ver the fhepherds then from this ftupefaction, and to 
enable them to underftand what he was about to fay, 
the angel begins with Fear not. The difpofition, 
that he would awake in them, comports with the 
news, which he intended to announce : for what has 
fear to do with the birth of the Saviour of the world ? 
Is not his birth the moft illuftrious proof of the re- 
ftoration of God's love to man ? Is it not the off- 
fpring of great merc}% and the origin of our falva- 
tion ? * 

* Fear incapacitates Jar thought. Divines have gone into two 
extremes in regard to fear in their preaching. Some feem to aim 
at nothing but terrifying their hearers. Others are fo extremely 
placid } that they exclude every idea, and even every word, that 
might excite any tremulous emotion of heart. Both err from 



( 235 ) 



After this preface the angel acquits himfelf of his 
commiffion, and announces to the fhepherds the great 

tlie fame principle, an inattention to the nature order, and office 
of fear. Fear is a natural paffion — its order in a rightly regu- 
lated mind is af ter an operation of judgment — and its office is 
to fwell, animate, and pufti an idea into action — thus fear be- 
comes the foul of a fpeculation, and fpeculation the counter- 
poife of the paffion. A minilter, who never endeavours to fave 
his people by fear, (Jude 23.) deprives the gofpel of one noble 
part of its evidence for it is one glory of the gofpel to propofe 
grand objects to the paffions, mighty to move the fouls of man- 
kind. A minifter, who, on the contrary, only throws about fire- 
brands and death, deprives it of another part; for chriftianity 
difdains to diforder the conititution of nature, and, therefore, 
before it calls the paffions to move, it coolly propofes evidence 
to the reafon of men. A preacher, who fhould pretend to dif- 
cufs the doctrine of eternal punifhment, would infult his hear- 
ers, were he to compofe his fermon of hell — devil — fire — brim- 
itone — gnaw the tongue — gnafh the teeth — and fo on, and bawl 
out thefe from a pulpit for the edification of his flock, He mould 
firft coolly convince his hearers of their m oral obligations toa 
fupreme governor — of the neceffity of maintaining order in the 
divine government by punilhing the incorrigible — of the cer- 
tainty of a future judgment— of theexprefs teftimony of revela- 
tion concerning eternal punifhment— of the mifery of fufrering 
the juft difpleafure of God — and fo on. Having allured reafon 
of the truth of his doctrine — and having obtained faith in the 
revealed account of it— he fhould then proceed toaroufe fear by 
the fcripture images of fire, darknefs, and fo on. It is really (hock- 
ing to fee how fome, otherwife worthy, miniffers degrade their 
characters by taking a wild extravagant pleafure in excruciating 
their hearers. Methinks, they refemble a certain Daniln bifhop 
at the reformation, who c< wifhed to be transformed into a devil, 
that he might enjoy the pleafure of tormenting in hell the here- 
tic foul of the late king Frederic." Cragii. Annal rer. Dank. 
Lib. iv. 

Chriftianity, confidered in its whole, keeps the entire foul in 
equipoife *, for, by propofing objects of hope and fear, joy and 
forrow, it alike preferves the mind from prefumption and def- 
pair, and keeps it in that order, which is at once holinefs and 
happinefs. But a partial view of chriftianity may produce i- 
deas all gloomy, or all joyous, and, if fuch views be taken for 
juft and comprehensive knowledge of religion, as through the 
narrownefs of the mind they may, they may produce fyltems, 
ceremonies, and fe£ts, 

Gga 



( 236 ) 

and myfterious news of the Redeemer s birth. Be- 
hold ! fays he, / bring you glad tidings of great joy \ 
ivhichjhall be to all people , for unto you is bor?i this 
day in the city of David^ a Saviour ^ which is Chrijl 
the Lord. Remark in the front of his meiTage the 
word behoTd^ which is generally ufed in fcripture to 
denote the greatnefs and importance of the fubjeft in 
queftion, and to gain attention. The prophets had 
often ufed it. Ifaiah on a like account had faid, Be- 
hold ! a virgin fhall conceive. Zechariah had cried. 
Daughter of Zion, Behold! thy king cometh, juft, 
and having falvation. Malachi had laid, Behold !— 
the Lord, whom ye feek, fhall fuddenly come to his 
temple. It is eafy to remark, that the angel could 
never more properly ufe this word than on this oc- 
cafion. Do you doubt of it ? Hear his meflage. / 
bring you , fays he to ihQxn,glad tidings of great joy. * 

* « Remark the word, Behold !" The propriety of remark- 
ing this kind of words can appear only to thofe, who enter into 
the fentiments and views of the writer, whofe words are to be 
expounded. Tacitus is accounted by many an obfeure writer: 
but Mr Gordon, a tranflator of this hiftorian, has obferved, it 
feems, very juftly, that the fault lies in the readers, who have 
neither fufficiently underftood the human heart, nor thofe poli- 
tical maxims, by which minifters of ftate govern mankind. 
" This remark is fo true, fay the critics, from whom I extracT 
this, that we could name many modern writers, whofe works 
are unintelligible in many places to all thofe, who are not well 
acquainted with the human heart. Take for example Cardinal 
de Retz. We will venture to affirm, had he written his me- 
moirs in Latin ; had he written the whole in the pureft Cicero- 
nian ftyle,he would always have appeared obfeure to thofe who 
attached themfelves only to words and phrafes." have never 
feen Mr Gordon's translation, and I tranferibe this from Bi- 
bliot. Rais&nnee de P Europe Av. 'Mai. Juhu 1732. Apply this to 
fcripture, and it will foon appear, that no rules can be given on 
this article, and that the propriety of making, or of omitting 
verbal remarks can only be perceived by them, who enter 
through the letter into the views of an infpired writer. 



( 237 ) 



In order to examine the words properly, you muft 
begin with the angel's defcription of the per/on, of 
whom hefpeaks; a Saviour ', Chrift, the Lord. Then 
pais to what he fays about him ; he is born unto you, 
fays he. He marks the time ; this day. He de- 
scribes the place; in the city of David. And in fine 
he fpecifies the nature of this important news ; a great 
joy, which Jloall be to all people. 

By the three titles, which he gives to the perfon 
fpoken of, it is evident, he means to defcribe the 
Meffiah, whom fo many oracles had^ foretold, whom 
fo many prophets had promiied, whom fo many fi- 
gures had reprefented ; that Meffiah fo long expected 
by all the faithful, fo much defired and hoped for by 
the church, him, after whom all the fervants of God 
upon earth inceffantly fighed. A Saviour, fays he, 
which is Chrijl, the Lord, he, from whofe hand you 
expedt deliverance andfalvation, the Anointed of God, 
the great and only king and prieft of the church, the 
fovereign Lord of all. In thefe titles he aiTembles all, 
that the ancient fcriptures had, of the myfterious, all, 
that religion had moft folemn. He awakes their 
confciences, and touches their hearts in the moft ten- 
der and fenfible parts, and upon fubjecTs, for which 
they did not want much preparation. To Ipeak 
briefly of each of thefe titles. * s 

* " Speak of each of thefe titles." This direction again muft 
be underftood in cautious connection with what our author fays 
elfewhere-, for it does not follow, becaufe it may be proper to 
difcufs thefe titles, it would be proper to difcufs profeifedly all 
others, fome of which, indeed, are of clear fcriptural applica- 
tion *, but others under the uncertain direction of fancy. An 
example or two will explain my meaning. " Rev. xiii, The 
number of the beaft, who makes war with the faints, is fix hun- 
dred, threescore and fix/' This beaft, fays a French writer, is 
the constitution. The waris the prefent perfecution of the re- 



( 258 ) 



The Meffiah is called the Saviour \ not on account 
of a temporal falvation, as Jofhua had been among 
the Jews, and Marcellus among the Greeks : but on 
account of a heavenly and eternal falvation. -f A 
real falvation not only regards the body : but it in- 
volves both body and foul It refpe&s both this 
life and a life to come. This name diftinguimes his 
miffion, and his gofpel, from the miffion and law of 
Mofes ; for Mofes indeed promifes life, do this and 

formed, which began March 1730, and will end Sept. 1733. 
This is included in the name Ludovicus [Lewis,] the numeral 
letters of which amount to 666. The reft of the king's title, 
Decitnus quintus, Francits et Navarre Rex t £the fifteenth, king of 
France and Navarre] makes exactly the number 1733. To 
which may be added the words of Ifaiah, i. 26. / ivill re/tore 
thy counfellors, that is to fay, the parliament, " as at the begin- 
ning, and Zion fhall be redeemed." Calend. Mifterieux fond, 
fur T Apocal. et fur Ifaie. 

t " Jefus Chrift is not a temporal Saviour." Thofe divines, 
who believe, that the faints will reign with Jefus Chrilt a thou- 
fand years upon earth, and who are therefore called MtUenanans y 
have been taxed with abfurdity for expecting a profufion of 
temporal bleffings during this feafon. This opinion, it is cer- 
tain, was current in the church during the three firft centuries, 
and Irenssus fays, it was derived from St John. Dodwelli Dijfert. 
Iren. 

In the third century, Origen oppofed it very warmly, and 
fome chriftians, it muft be allowed, have entertained grofs no- 
tions concerning the enjoyments of this future kingdom. Mo- 
fheim's Eccl. Hift. Cent. iii. p 2. 12* 

In later times the doctrine has been revived, and purified from 
fenfual ideas, and there feems nothing in it, as it is now held, 
contrary to fcripture and the analogy of faith. Bifliop Newton 
in the eftablifhed church, and Dr Gill among the proteitant 
difTenters,have ftated, and defended it, fo as to free it from eve- 
ry objection on account of its contrariety to the pure morality of 
Jefus Chrift. One great weaknefs, which has attended the mil- 
lenariaif divines, and to which they are Itill too much addicted, 
is a fondnefs for calculating and fixing the times of future e- 
vents : a practice, which has often expofed their whole fyftem 
to contempt, as, among others, a French writer has amply fhewn- 
«c Des Maretz Chiliafmus eneivatus. 



( 239 ) 



thou Jbalt live : but he does not promife falvation. 
The law with all its facrifices and remedies could 
never deliver men from the fervitude of fin and 
death : but Jefus Chrift has really and truly faved 
us, hath drawn us from the abyfs of hell, and from 
the curie under which we were, to beftow on us his 
glory and immortality. * 

He is called Chrift, a term, which, you know, 
anfvvers to the Hebrew MeJJiab, and fignifies anoint- 
ed K Jefus is the true anointed of God, in whofe per- 
fon are affembled all the grand advantages, which the 
ancient un&ions reprefented as moft effe&ual and 
myfterious. He was anointed not with material but 
myftical oil, filled with the graces of the holy fpirit, 

f " The law with all its facrifices could not deliver men from 
death." If moral obedience, accompanied with ceremonial fa- 
crifices, could not expiate the fins of the Jews, how can it be ima- 
gined, that moral performances alone can do it now ? St Paul 
is exprefs Heb. x, i. " the law can never make the comers there- 
unto perfect . . - but we are fanclified through the offering of 
the body of Jefus Chrift once for all. One of our old divines 
well obferves — that " if any rite could have expiated fin, facrifi- 
ces would have done it— that facrifices are put fynechdochically 
for the whole ceconomy — that the comers thereunto, they, who 
reiterated thofe facrifices, performed all the duties, and partook 
of all the benefits of that difpenfation, could not be juftified by 
it— that the ceconomy was intended to (hew good things to come* 
— that the fault was not in people's failing to do their duty: but 
in the nature of the ceconomy itfelf — and that therefore the beft 
means under the law were not fufficient; to make thofe perfect, 
who were moft ftrict in obferving them." Gouge on Heb. 
x. i . 

To this fubjecl: a great man applies a pafTage in " Deut. ix. 
" Speak not in thine heart, faying, For my righteoufnefs the 
Lord brought me to porTefs the land.'' If it would have been 
improper for a Jew to jbave faid thus of Canaan, a temporal in- 
heritance •, how much more fo mult it be for a chriftian to fay 
fo of heaven, an eternal felicity?'' This fubje£t may be pro- 
perly illuftrated by many paffages of this kind : but they muft 
not be brought for proof. Du Pkjfts on the Eucharijl. I iii. c. 
18. 



( 240 ) 



veiled with glorious dignity and fupreme authority 
over every creature, Sovereign Prophet, Sovereign 
Prieft, Sovereign King of his church. * 

The title Kurios, Lord, which is given to him, 
is the word, that the Seventy in their tranflation ufe 
for the ineffable name of God, which word in our 
(French) verfions is rendered The Eternal: -f nor is 
it without reafon that in the new-teftament the title 
Lord is generally given to Jefus Chriit : it is to teach 
us, that he is eiTentially the fame God, the fame e- 
ternal Jehovah, whom the ancient people of Ifrael 
adored. — The Lord, he w r ho comes to overthrow the 
tyrannical empire of the devil, and to eftablifh h is na- 
tural and lawful dominion amongft men. — True 

* " In the perfon of Jefus all the evidences of the true Mef- 
fiah were united." An excellent writer affirms —that, " although 
the Jewifli church was very corrupt in morals, when Chrift 
came, yet they had a competent knowledge of fcripture in gene- 
ral—and of the prophecies of the Meffiah in particular — of 
whofe coming they were in full expectation — -that their old 
Rabbies underftood many prophecies of the Meffiah, which 
their later teachers deny — that all the prophecies were fulfilled in 
Jefus the Meffiah — and that they, who have endeavoured fince 
to apply them to other perfons, have not been able to do fo with 
any fhadow of evidence— that the modern Jews preferve the 
old prophecies, and pretend to produce none later than the 
time of Malachi." &c. &c. Allix Reflex, fur V Ecrit. pour e- 
tablir la verit. de la Rel. Chret. 

f" Jefus Chrift is called Kurios to teach us that he is God." 
Some of the names given to Jefus Chrift in Scripture are proofs 
of his divinity: but the Septuagint tranflation of Jehovah into 
Kurios^ and the new te (lament application of it to Jefus, will 
not prove his deity. Kurios is a term expreffive of dominion, 
and not of the nature of him, who exericifes it. See Pagnini 
Thefaur in verb. Adon. et Jah. 

" Our verfions render the word Jehovah, TEternel, the E- 
ternal." Dr Duport commends the French tranflation of the 
wofd Jehovah, becaufe, fays he, neither the Hebrew Jehovah, 
nor perhaps the Greek KurwSyio properly fignify dominion and 
power, as infinity and eternity of efience. 



( 241 ) 

Lord^ In regard to the jufttcc of his rights, for to 
whom can the world more lawfully appertain, than 
to him who created it ? or to whom the church, 
than to him who redeemed it ?— True Lord^ if you 
regard the extent of his empire, for he reigns from 
eaft to weft, from one end of the univerfe to the o- 
ther.— True Lord^ if you regard the power, by 
which he governs his wide domain, and the obedi- 
ence, that he receives of all creatures ; for all things 
are fubjecl: to him in heaven and in earth, nor is 
any creature able to refift his will— True Lord, if 
you confider the end of his reign, which is only 
grace, peace, and benedi&ion. The devil, who had 
hitherto pofTefled the world, had been a tyrant and 
an ufurper, fo he may be called, but he cannot be 
called lord ; not only becaufe he was not the law- 
ful matter, but alio becaufe the end of his domi- 
nion was only the ruin, defolation and death of his 
vaffals. % 

m * " Jefus Chrifl is Lord of all. Acts x. 36. How eleva- 
ting the thought ! Lord of nature ! 

0 for a telefcopehis throne to reach! 

Tell me, ye learn'd on earth ! or bleft above! 

Ye fearching, ye Newtonian angels ! tell, 

Where, your great Mailer's orb ! his planets where ? 

On Nature's Alps I ftand, 
And fee a thoufand firmaments beneath ! 
A thoufand fyftems ! as a thoufand grains I 
Each of thefe ftars is a religious houfe j 

1 faw their altars fmoke, their incenfe rife, 
And heard ho/annas ring thro* ev'ry fphere, 
A feminary fraught with future Gods. 

O what a root ! O what a branch is here ! 

O what a father ! what a family ! 

"Worlds! fyftems! and creations !— and creations* 

In one agglomerated clutter j hung}. 

II h 



( 2*2 ) 



Having confidered thefe three titles in general? 
and each apart, you may proceed to conlider them 

Great * vine ! on thee, on thee the clufter hangs 5 
The filial clufter ! infinitely fpread 

In glowing globes ., with various beings fraught ; 

And drinks (ne&areous draught !) immortal life. 

* John xv, 1. Night Thoughts. N. 9. 

Jefus Chrijl is Lord of all The dominion of our divine re- 
deemer extends over univerfal nature : but his dominion in the 
church is what chriftian minifters fhould more efpecially incul- 
cate ; for on this depends purity of doctrine, difcipline, faith 
and morality. A mo ft learned and judicious foreign divine has 
excellently treated this fubjecl:, by tracing canon law to its ori- 
gin, and by enquiring on what plan lefus Chrift formed his 
church. " It was not formed on the plan of the Jewifh civil 
government — nor on that of any other civil ftate — nor on that 
of the Jewifh temple, fanhedrim or fynagogue — the decree of the 
council at Jerufalem was advice : but not law — canons in the pri- 
mitive church were general rules of explication or action devoid 
of coercion — the Emperor Juftinian gave them the force of ci- 
vil law — they are according to the primitive conftitution of the 
chriftian church neither regal, epifcopal, nor papal rights in mat- 
ters of faith and confcience — Jefus Chrift formed a kingdom 
merely fpiritual — the apoftles exercifed only a fpiritual authority 
under the direction of Jefus Chrift — particular churches were 
united only by faith and love — in all civil affairs they fubmitted 
to civil magiftracy, and in religious concerns they were govern- 
ed by the reafoning, advice, and exhortations of their own offi- 
cers — their cenfures were only honeft reproofs, and their ex- 
communications were only declarations, that fuch offenders be- 
ing incorrigible were no longer accounted members of their 
communities. As to the word hierarchy, it is not only different 
from fcripture-ftyle : but it is diametrically oppofite to it — it 
was invented probably by DiqnyTius, commonly though falfly 
called the Areopagite — and it is expreflive of ideas altogether 
oppofite to thofe of Jefus Chrift, and his apoftles. 

The church has fuftained great damage through an ufurpa- 
tion of Chriit's lordfhip. Take one example. " A juft ab- 
horrence of intolerance feems to have diverted the famous Her- 
man Boerhaave from the profeflion of divinity, for which he 
was intended ; and an ardent love of liberty prevailed with him 
to profefs phyfic, in which freedom of thought never betrays 
a man into ruin. He only took the liberty one day to afk a fel- 
low-paflenger in a trekfchoot, (who was ignorantly but violent- 



( 243 ) 



in a comparative view. This comparifon may be 
of the words with each other, or with the other parts 
of the text, or with the words which follow the 
text. * 

ly defending eftablifhed religion, and execrating the notions of 
Spinofa) whether he had ever read the writings of Spinofa, 
and prefently he was declared an Atheift. He kept an acT: on 
tins queftion, Why chriftianity made fuch a rapid progrefs at 
firft, when it was preached by illiterate men, and fuch a flow one 
now it was preached by learned men ?" To call dogmatizing de~ 
claimers ad axame/i to fuppofe thata fyftem may have been in a bet- 
ter ftate than we find it— to think of exonerating it from heteroge- 
neous incumbrances, and of refining it to its original fimplicity — 
thefe are virtues in every other fcience; but in theology they are 
vices, vices, that excite the odium theJogicum, which never fails to 
pronounce them the unpardonable fin. Boerhaave difcharged 
all moral duties, he worfhipped the deity morning and evening, 
he never pronounced the facred name of God without unco- 
vering his head, and yet he was of a phyfician's religion, and 
we know who has faid, " where there are three phyficians, there 
are at lead two Atheifts!" 

An excellent lawyer of our own has proved — that u the 
fcheme of church-government laid down, in the book called 
Codex juris ecclejiaftici Anglicani, by Gibfon, Bp. of London, is 
founded on the principles of the Roman hierarchy, tends to e- 
ftablifh a facerdotal kingdom, and to render the ftate dependant 
on the clergy — that fuch a fcheme has no countenance from 
fcripture— is falfe in itfelf — incompatible with the conftitution 
of this kingdom — and with that fpiritual empire, which Jefus 
Chrift came to eflablifh among mankind. Some ecclefiaftics 
who pretended to be the principal fubje£ts of Chrift's king- 
dom, and to pofiefs an exclufive right of expounding his laws, 
praclifed the moft impious and intolerable tyranny, that ever 
exercifed the patience of God and man, founded an empire in 
deceit, and fupported it by perfidy, and blood-fhedding, and all 
forts of fraud and oppreffion." Fofter's exam, of Gibfon's Cod. 
Jur, Ec. Angl. 

* Compare the words, and the parts of a paffage together, 
and the whole with other paffages. Comparifons of this kind 
are extremely fuccefsful in general to elucidate fcripture : but 
there are paflages which will not difcharge their obfeurity by 
this method They are, however, unimportant, and variety of 
opinion perfectly-innocent. 

Here follows an example. Prov. xxx. 185 19- " There are 

H h 2 



( 244 ) 



In the firjl view, you may fay, that the Angel in- 
tended primarily to give the fhepherds an idea of the 
benefits, which they might exped of the Meffiah, 

three things, which are too wonderful for me ; yea four, which 

I know not: the way of an eagle in the air the way of a fer- 

pent upon a rock—the way of a (hip in the midft of the fea — 
and the way of a man with a maid." A French refugee mi- 
miter expounds this paffage thus. <( The way of an eagle in 

the air is the way of Jefus Chrift afcending to heaven- the 

way of a ferpent upon a rock, is the way of Jefus Chrift in that 
rock 3 in a cavern of which he was buried j there remained no 

fcent, by which the place of his fepulchre could be known 

the way of a fhip in the fea, denotes the way of Jefus Chri{t 
among his countrymen in the courfe of his miniftry, which left 
no more traces among them than a fhip leaves in the ocean— 
the way of a man with a maid fignifies the miraculous birth of 
Chrift of a virgin. r The reafon affigned for this expofition is 
taken from the introductory fentence compared with the reft 
of thefubjecl:; for, fays our commentator, "The wife man 
fpeaks of wonderful things \ now there is nothing wonderful in 
thefe things literally : but taken allegorically they are wonder- 
ful events indeed." We agree, thefe are wonderful things, and 
the infpired writer certainly knew them not ; but may we not 
fuppofethe text to be the plain, blunt, modeft language of an 
ancient natural philosopher, who declared, he could not account 
for many things in nature, arts, and fciences ; he did not under- 
Itand the doctrine of air, the principles of navigation, the nutri- 
tion of infants in the womb> nor the fultenance of reptiles con- 
fined in the clefts of a rock? GoufTet. Controv. adv. Jud. Chiz- 
zuk Emuna, xxi. 

This method of extorting a fenfe is what one of our divines 
calls " bombarding the fcripture— -forming a text — and taking it 
hy force." Dr Edwards. Pref. to difficult texts, 

I cannot help obferving here the abfurdity of the firft of feven 
rules, which father Qalmet lays down for the explication of 
fcripture. " We muft uuderftand fcripture as the church un- 
ci erft and s it." Dicl. de la bible. That church beft underftands 
fcripture, which derives from it the doctrine of univerfal tolera- 
tion 5 for thefe hiftorical articles are not the only obfcure and 
controverted points among chriftians : but the popifh church 
does not even allow diverlity of fentiment on thefe. " Why 
fpeak of the pope's interpreting fcripture, fays one ; his time is 
all taken up in teaching his church to devour God and to depofe 
lings David Home L' Arias, du Roi Hen. le grand. 



( 245 ) 

and for this reafon began with the title Saviour, in 
order to affedt them with their own intereft, and in- 
deed with the greateft of all interefts. Afterwards, 
to confirm their hope upon that point, he rifes to the 
fource of this falvation, the mercy of God, who 
bellowed it on them, therefore he fays the Saviour is 
Chrijl, that is, the promifed Meffiah. In fine, in 
order to convince them with what profound refpedt 
men ought to receive him, they add, that he is fove- 
reign Lord. In the title Saviour he mews the end of 
Chrift's coming into the world. In that of Chrift^ 
the rights which he had to undertake fo great a work, 
which was the Father's million, who for that purpofe 
had anointed him. And in that of Lord, he marks 
the fovereign power ', with which he mould happily 
execute the office, that the Father had committed 
to him, 

In comparing thefe three titles with the other 
parts of the text, you may {hew, that the angel calls 
him the Saviour, to juftify that great joy, which ^ 
fays he, / bring you. That he calls him Chrijl, the 
fon of God, the promifed Meffiah, with relation to 
his birth in the city of David. And that he calls 
him Lord, to render, in foine fort, a reafon for an 
angel's coming with the glad tidings : as if he had 
faid, / bring you the glad tidings, becaufe he is 
Lord of all, both yours and ours. 

In comparing the words with what follows, you 
may obferve, that the angel calls him the Saviour, 
Chri/i, the Lord, in order to guard the fhepherds a- 
gainft their being offended at what he was about to 
tell them, that they mould find him a babe wrapped 
in fwadling clothes, lying in a manger. As if he had 
Cud, Let not thefe fad appearances offend you ; he, 



( 246 ) 



whom you will find an infant, in fwadling clothes, 
and in a manger, is the Redeemer of the world, 
the true anointed of God, the Lord of the whole 
univerfe. 

This Saviour, this Chrift, this Lord, fays the an- 
gel, is born unto you. In this birth you may remark, 

1 1 That the fon of God out of pure love to us 
became the fon of man, partook of flefh and blood, 
and in one word was in all things made like unto 
us, fin excepted. This is the great myftery, which 
the evangelifts and apoftles propofed, and which the 
divine wifdom itfelf had fo often fpoken of in the 
writings of the prophets. * The word, fays St 

* " The incarnation of Jefus Chrift is an ineffable myftery." 
Our divines comprehend two forts of truths in the word myste- 
ries. The fir ft are fuch as natural reafon could not have difco* 
vered, and which, confequently, mull have remained unknown 
to men, had not God revealed them. Thefe truths were myfte- 
lies before revelation : but being revealed they ceafe to be myf- 
terious. Of this kind are the call of the gentiles, Eph. i. 9. the 
transforming of fome without dying, who {hall be alive at the 
day of judgment. 1 Cor. xv. 51. In the other clafs they put 
thofe truths, which remain in part incomprehenfible after they 
are revealed, fuch as the refurrection of the dead, the incarna- 
tion of Chrift, and others. " Strictly fpeaking, fays one, there 
are no myfteries in religion, religion confifts in things revealed — 
you cannot, you lay, comprehend the manner of God's creating 
the world, nor the manner of hisraifing the dead, fit is no part 
of religion to comprehend the manner of thefe works, it is re- 
ligion to believe the truth of them. ■* Dr Fofter's Sermons, Ser. 
vii. of Myfteries* 

Chriftianity has been often attacked on this fide, and as often 
ably defended; there are however, two extremes, each of which 
a chrift ian minifter fhould avoid in defending it on this article. 
Some divines have capitulated with the enemy, and have given 
up all of the myfterious for the fake of preferving what remain- 
ed of the clear. " But if, fays a good writer, it can be proved, 
that myfteries make a part of a religion coming from God, it 
can be no part of piety to difcard them, as if we were wifer 
than he. Befide, although there may be a certain degree of 
moral redtitude in a man devoid of faith in the dodferines and 



( *tf ) 



John, was made flefh^ and dwelt among us. f When 
the fidnefs of time was come, fays St Paul, God fent 

myfteries of chriftianity, yet there can never be that firm, deli- 
cate, elevated virtue, which motives, contained in what are call- 
ed myfteries, infpire. The love of God to mankind in the in- 
carnation of Chrift animates with the moft lively affection, for 
hoiinefs, and the death of Chrift for our (ins infpires us with 
extreme horror for vice; and fo of the reft. Myfteries there- 
fore ought not to be given up." 

" They, who pretend to unite mankind by banifhing thefe 
controverted points, adds this divine, mould remember — that 
the Pagans, who had none of our myfteries, were divided into 
numerous parties — that the Jews, who were unacquainted with 
many of them, were divided into feels of Pharifees, Sadducees, 

Effenes that they, who affect to have laid afide controverfy, 

and who boaft of their fraternal love to all their fpecies, differ as 
widely from one another as any other people." — &c. De Roche's 
Def. de Chriftianifme. 

The other extreme lies in an attempt to explain the myfteries 
of revelation fo as to free them from all obfeurity. 

The following maxim points out the proper way of defence, 
by which both extremes are avoided. " Where the truth of 
a doctrine depends not on the evidence of the things themfelves : 
but on the authority of him, that reveals it, there the only way 
to prove the doctrine to be true is to prove the teftimony or him, 
that revealed it, to be infallible." Stillingfleet's Origines 3a- 
crse. 1. ii. c. 8. 

f Logos ivas madejlejh. No wordlhas occafioned greater con- 
troverfies than this. The truth feems to be— that Chrift ap« 
peared to the patriarchs before his incarnation — that the Jews 
called the perfon appearing Memra Jehova, the Word of the 
Lord— that the Targumifts ufed this term to defer ibe the Mef- 
fiah — that St John writing in Greek, tranflated memra into Lo« 
GOS,by which terms the helleniftic Jews underftood the Meffiah 
— that Plato learnt this term of the Jews — and that he affixed 
ideas to it, of which St John and his countrymen had never 
thought — that the incorporation of Platonic ideas contained in 
this term with the ideas of St John produced many errors in 
the church concerning the doctrine of Chrift's perion. 

Bp. Stillingfleet obferves— that it expofes the doctrine of the 
trinity to contempt, to pretend to explain it according to the no- 
tions of philofophers. There is a Ciceronian — a Cartefian — a 
Platonic — an Ariftotelian— and a vulgar trinity — neither of which 
is a fcripture trinity— there are three— and thefe three are one 
—we know no more. See his preface to his Vindicate of Trim 



( US ) 



forth his/on made of a woman, made under the law. 
Again, Great is the myjlery of godlinefs, God was 
manifejl in the flejh. And again, He took not on 
him the nature of Angels, but he took on him the 
feed of Abraham. The children were partakers of flefh 
and blood, and he alfo himfelf took part of the fame. 
Ineffable myftery ! in which we behold two natures, 
the divine and human united in one perfon. Amazing 
ceconomy ! in which the Creator becomes a creature, 
. the Father of eternity fubmits to the revolutions of 
time, the Mafter of the world, he, who thought it 
not robbery to be equal with God, takes upon him the 
form of a fervant, and is made in the likenefs of men. 
I know not which to admire mod, the Lord of glo- 
ry habited in flefh, heaven in a manner defcended to 
aflbciate with earth, the firft of all beings allied to 
nothingnefs ; or nothingnefs elevated to a participa- 
tion of the infinite majefty, earth, flefh, and blood, 
attending the eternal throne, to reign there above 
angels, a handful of duft becoming an object of the 
veneration of all creatures. 

A fecond reflection, which you may make, is, 
that the Son of God was not only pleafed to take 
our nature: but he even condefcended to fuffer all 
the weaknejfes, to which the reft of mankind are fub- 
je&. He ftooped to lifp in childhood, to fuffer the in- 
firmities of infancy, as well as to enter the world in 
the ordinary way of birth. When God created the 
firft Adam, he created him at man's eftate : * but the 

* God created the firft Adam at man's eftate. On this, as on 
every other article, authors have run into oppofite extremes. 
Some of the Rabbies think that the firft man was a prodigious 
giant — Madam Bourignon fays, he was of both fexes— Dr Vink 
believes, he pradHfed- phyfic in Paradife— Dr Schulzius con- 
jectures, he performed the firft operation in furgery, and under* 



( 249 ) 



fecoud Adam had not that advantage, he was con- 
ceived in the womb, and born a little child. The 
reafons of this difpenfation are, I. That he might have 
a perfect conformity to the reft of mankind ; he 
would not only be their kinfman and brother, not 
only fubjeci: himfelf to all the infirmities, which at- 
tend their maturer life ; but he would alfo participate 
their infancy, in order to have a clofer communion 
with us. 2. God by thefe means accomplished the 
ancient predictions of his oracles, his ancient promifes 
to the patriarchs. He had faid in the beginning, that 
The feed of the woman fnould bruife tbeferpenfs head. 
* He had directed the prophet Ifaiah to fay, To us a 
child is born, to us a fon is given. He had promifed 
Abraham that in his feed all the families of the earth 
fhould be bleffed. He had promifed David that the 
Meffiah mould be his fon. It was neceffary then to 

Hood midwifry — Lambecius does not doubt his knowledge of 
poetry — and many very ferioufly afcribe to him the xcii pfalm 
— Skill in Aftronomy — Aftrology — Logic — Botany — Rhetoric 
— the knowledge of almoft all arts and fciences has been attri- 
buted to him. Others have denied him almoft all human know- 
ledge, and have reprefented him as a mere uncultivated favage. 
In regard to his moral date, he has been faid to be in pofleffion 
of the higheft degree of moral rectitude before the fall, and in 
a ftate of the mod extreme depravity after it. Others have 
thought him capable at his creation of virtue and vice : but in 
pofleffion of neither. Few are content with the fimplicity of re- 
velation ; " God made man upright : but he fought out many 
inventions." 

* The feed of the woman mall bruife thy head. To bruife 
the head, fay fome, is to inflict death — and, as the threatning 
was denounced againft Satan, concealed in the ferpent, it muft 
be a death fuited to his fpiritual nature, an eternal deprivation of 
all felicity— -the execution of this punilhment is affigned to the 
pofierity of the woman : not to the wicked, they are in league with 
the tempter ; nor to the righteous, they can rejift ; but they can- 
not difarm and deftroy him— it muft, then, be the work of Jefus 
Chrijty according to Heb. li. 14. Rev. xx. 14. Jacob, Gouffetti 
Controv* adv, Juditos Ternlo xii. 

7 n 



( 250 ) 



fulfil thefe promifes, not only that he fhould be im- 
mediately created by God as Adam was : but alfo 
that his conception and nativity mould refemble 
thofe of the reft of mankind, * 

* The conception and nativity of Jefus Chrift, refembled thofe 
of the reft of mankind. Very different opinions are entertain- 
ed concerning the exigence of human fouls in general, and con- 
fequently concerning the exiftence of the foul of Jefus Chrift. 
Some philosophers believed the eternity of the world, and of 
mankind- — Others thought, God created many men at the fame 
time, fome faid, he created feveral men at different times. — 
Thefe opinions are adopted for the fake of accounting for the 
different fizes and colours of men. Whether Adam were creat- 
ed a giant or a dwarf, a negroe or a white, it is certain, the di- 
verfities of mankind may be accounted for on phyfical princi- 
ples. 

Ifaac Pereira endeavoured to derive evidence from fcripture, 
that there were men before Adam. Praadamita. — Pythagoras 
— Plato— many Jewifh Rabbins — Origen — and his followers, 
held the pre-exiftence of all human fouls; and Ruft, Bp. of 
Dromore in Ireland, Dr Glanvil in his Lux Orientalus, and Dr. 
Henry More., endeavoured of late years to revive this notion 
among us. But the pre-exiftence of the human foul of Jefus 
Chrifi is that idea, which has met with the mo ft favourers a- 
mong our divines. Thefe gentlemen acknowledge in Jefus 
Chrift a divine nature, a rational foul, and an human body — 
his body, they think, was formed in the Virgin's womb— his 
human foul, they fuppofe, was the firft and moft excellent of all 
the works of God, was brought into exiftence before the crea- 
tion of the world, and fubfifted in happy union in Heaven, with 
the fecond perfon in the godhead till his incarnation. Thefe di- 
vines differ from thofe called Arians, for the latter afcribe to 
Chrift only a created deity ; whereas the former hold his true 
and proper divinity — they differ from the Socinians,who believe 
no exiftence of Chrift before his incarnation — They differ from 
Sabellians, who own only a trinity of names — they differ alfo 
from the generally received opinion, which is, that the human 
foul of Jefus Chrift began to exift in his mother's womb, in 
exa£r, conformity to that lihnefs unto his brethren^ of which S. 
Paulfpeaks, Heb. ii. 17. 

The belt writers in favour of the pre-exiftence of Jefus 
ChrifVs human foul, recommend their thefis by thefe three ar- 
guments, 1. Many plain paflages of fcripture exprefsly declare 
it. 2. Several difficult paflages become eafy by allowing it. 3. 
The work of redemption appears more clear, uniform, and ex- 



( 251 ) 



The third reflection, that may be made, is, that 
the Meffiah was not born for himfelf, to you is bom f 
faid the Angel; which very much refemble Ifaiah's 
words juft now mentioned, to us a child is born. 
Had this been laid of any other perfon, I mould not 
| have wondered. No man is born for himfelf. We 
are for God, we are for the laws, we are for our 
country, we are for our parents, we are for our 
neighbours, none of us is independent. None of us 
has a fupreme and abfolute right over himfelf When 
we are born, our country, our laws, our relations, our 
neighbours, may fay he is born for us. But it is not 
ib with Jems Chrift, who is God over all bkjjcd for 
every * equal and coeffential with his Father, under 

eeilent. In proof of thefe they quote 2 Cor. viii. 9. John xvii. 

v, Col. i. 15. 17. John viii. 58. vi. 62. hi. 13. &c. &c. Sayer 

Rudd's Anfiver to EJfay on Spirit, &c. 

I (hail relate the objections of our divines to this hypothecs, 

in the next note. 

* Jefus Chrift is God, blefled for ever, Rom. ix. 5. Our di- 
vines, who hold the doctrine of the trinity, and of the divine 
perfonality of Jefus Chriit, affirm, that the doctrine of the pre- 
exiftence of the human foul of Jefus Chrift weakens and iub- 
verts that of his perfonality. 1. A pure intelligent fpirif, fay 
they, the firft, the molt ancient, and the molt excellent of crea- 
tures, created before the foundation of the world, ib exactly re- 
fembles the fecond perfon of the Avian trinity, that it is impof- 
fible to mew the leaft difference, except in name. 2. The pre- 
exiftent intelligence fuppofed in this doctrine is fo confounded 
with thofe other intelligences, called angels, that there is great 
danger of miftaking this human foul for an angel, and lb of mak- 
ing the perfon of Chrift to confift of three natures. 3. If Jefus 
Chrift had nothing in common like the reft of mankind except 
a body, how could this femi-conformity make him a real man I 

4. The pafiages quoted in proof of the pre-exiftence of the hu- 
man foul of Jefus Chrift are of the fame fort with thofe, which 
others alledge in proof of the pre-exiftence of ail human fouls 

5. This opinion by afcribing the dignity of the work of re- 
demption to this fublime human foul detracts from the deity of 
Chrift, and renders the laft as paffive as it renders the nrft 
active. 6 U This notion is contrary to JcriMure, S, Paul iavs, m 

li 2 



( 252 } 



obligation to none, having a fovereign and abfolute 
right over himfelf. How then does the angel fay 5 
to you be is born f I anfvver, as the nativity of Jefus 
Chrift is not a gift of nature but of grace, fo the angel 
muft needs be fuppofed to ufe the language of grace, 
not of nature. * By nature independent and raafter 
of himfelf : but by grace beftowed on us. By nature 
we are his : but by grace he is ours ; he gives him- 
felf to us by a voluntary acT: of love, To us be is bom, 
becaufe his birth and incarnation were wholly de- 
figned for our falvation. 

4. The angel does not fay, he is born for us 
angels, but to you is born, which teaches us the fame, 
that S. Paul taught the Hebrews, when he faid, He 
took not 071 him the nature of angels, but the feed of 
Abraham. Indeed, Jefus Chrift is Lord of angels; 
but not their Saviour ; angels obey him : but he did 
not die for them. They, who kept their frjl eft at 
having never finned, have no need of a Mediator ; 
and for thofe, who rebelled, God never procured a 

sail things it behoved him to be made like his brethren — he par- 
took of all our infirmities except fin. — S. Luke fays, he increafed 
In ftature and in wifdom. — 7. It fuppofes the decree of redemp- 
tion to precede that of creation, and confequently no divines, ex- 
cept thofe, who embrace the jupralapf avian arrangement of the 
decrees, can reconcile it with their fyftems, &c. &c. 
Joan. Marckii. TheoL DoEl. Groning. Syllog. Dijfertat. Exerc. xii. 

* The nativity of Jefus Chrift is not a gift of nature : but of 
grace. Our author explains his meaning elfewhere. " It is not 
neceflary to difcufs this queftion of the fchools, "Would Jefus 
Chrift have come into the world, if Adam had not finned ? for 
fcripture perpetually exhibits him as a fecond Adam, the head of 
a new v/orld, coming into this on account of fin, and to deftroy 
the works of the devil. — Others are born in virtue of the natural 
blefTmg of the creator, Be fruitful and multiply — but Jefus came 
by a fupernatural principle according to the promife, The feed 
of the woman fhall bruife the ferpent's head — God was under 
no necefhty to fend him, his milhon was arbitrary, and depend- 
ed merely on the good pleafure of God. 



( 253 ) 



reconciliation, their fall is remedilefs and hopelefs,* 
He is not then born for angels, hut for us. * The 
angel after this mentions the time of this happy 
birth, this day is born to you. It would be needlefs 
to wander into curious and ufelefs enquiries about the 
year, or the month, or the day of our Saviours na- 
tivity. The fcripture keeps a profound filence about 
it, and that filence we ought to refpecT. -f Befides, 
fo much difficulty attends a precife enquiry into the 
time, that, after all our labour, we are obliged to ac- 

* Jefus Chrift was born for us : not for angels. 
My God!— 

What then art thou ? by what name fhall I call thee ? 

Knew I the name devout archangels ufe, 

Devout Archangels mould the name enjoy, 

By me unrival'd ; thoufands more fublime, 

None half fo dear, as that, which, tho' unfpoke, 

Still glows at heart : O how Omnipotence 

Is loft in love! Thou great Philanthropy}! 

Father of Angels! but the friend of Alan! 

Like Jacob, fondeft of the younger born ! 

Night 7 houghts. N. 4. 
Took not on him the nature of angels. Heb. ii. 16. The word 
eplambanomai, is ufed only once more in this epiftle viii. 9. 
and the fenfe given to it there has induced many expoiitoi-s to 
read it, here he took hold — caught by the hand* 

f We ought to refpecl: the Silence of fcripture. This is an ob- 
fervation of great importance, particularly in the Popifh contro- 
verfy. It is not enough for Proteftants to affirm, " the holy 
fcriptures contain all things neceflary to falvation ; they muft 
add, there is no fufficient proof, that any particular thing, not 
contained in fcripture, was revealed to the apoftles}" for, if 
Proteftants allow only the former, the Papifts will bring in tra- 
ditions in the abfence of the latter. If the latter proportion be 
well proved, it will be eafy to add a third, God has not re- 
vealed any new truth to any fucceflbrs of the apoftles." The 
fair inference from all will be, Chriltians are not obliged to fub- 
fcribe human explications of divine revelation. i( Where we 
need a rule, the rule is plain : but if men will enlarge their own 
neceflities, and then expecl: to have every thing nicely defined 
by Almighty God, they are not to expert a fupply of their 
wants, becaufe they have perverfely brought them upon them- 
felves." Bennefs Confufat. of Popery. Rule of Faith. 



( 254 ) 



knowledge, it is impoffible to fix the time. What 
neceffity is there for thefe refearches, what fruit, or 
what edification can we receive from them ? It is 
enough to know, 

i. That Jefus Chrift was born in the reign of 
Auguftus Caefar, when all the world enjoyed a pro- 
found peace, * a little before the death of Herod the 
great, -f 

2 S He came into the world precifely at the time 
appointed by prophecy, a little before the fceptre de- 
parted from Judah, and the lawgiver from between 
his feet> according to Jacob's prediction ; betwixt the 
return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon 
and their third captivity, a little before the deftruCtion 
of Jerufalem and all Judea by the Roman armies, 
according to the prophecy of Daniel 

* Chrift was born, when all the world enjoyed a profound 
peace. It is not improbable, that the angelic holt referred to 
this peace in their hymn. A learned critic reads the hymn thus, 
i( The good-will of God towards men, is glory to him in the 
higheft, and peace upon earth ; that is to fay, The benevolence 
of God to mankind will be productive of the higheft glory to 
him, and of peace to men : Or, the benevolence of God to man- 
kind in giving his Son, is accompanied with our fongs of the 
higheft praife to him in heaven, and an univerfal peace upon 
earth. 

f Jefus Chrift was born in the reign of Auguftus. " Learned 
men are not all agreed in the fixing of the true time of Chrifl's 
incarnation, fome placing it two years, and fome four years before 

the vulgar sera the year in which he was born is according 

to the exa&eft computation (that of Archbifhop Ujher.) the four 
thoufandth from the creation. At this time there was a general 
peace all over the world, and it continued for twelve years to- 
gether, which was a proper prelude for ufhering in his coming, 
who was the " prince of peace, Chrift our Lord," 

\ Jefus Chrift came at the time foretold by Daniel. " Six 
events are predicted by Daniel, and feventy weeks determined 
for their accompiimment. The events are thefe. I. To finiih 
( or retrain J tranfgreflion. 2. To make an end of fins. 3. To 
make ( expiation or ) reconciliation for iniquity. 4. To bring 
in everlafting righteoufnefs. 5. Tc feal up ( or tompleat and fulfil J 



( 255 ) 



j. God faithfully aceomplifhed his promifes at a 
time, when the people, to whom they were made, 
feemed unworthy of any remembrance or compaf- 
fion ; for, when the Saviour came into the world, 
there was almoft no faith, no piety, no holinefs upon 
earth* Errors and fuperftitions peaceably reigned 
over all nations, and the devil feemed to have efta- 
blimed his empire for ever over mankind. The 
Samaritans, who were brethren to the Jews after the 
flefli, had long lived in a deplorable fchifm ; the little 
of the mofaic religion, which remained among them, 
w T as intombed in extravagant errors and grofs igno- 

vifion and prophecy. And 6. To anoint the moft holy. And all 
thefe were accomplimed in that great work of our falvation, 
which Chrift our Lord undertook for us, and fully compleated 
by his death and paffion, and refurre&ion from the dead." 
Prideaux. Conn. p. I. b. 

The learned Dean begins his reckoning of the feventy weeks> 
or four hundred and ninety years, from the feventh year of Ar- 
taxerxes Longimanus, others from the twentieth of the fame Ar- 
taxerxes, and others from the reign of Darius Nothus. There 
are various hypothefes on this article. " Marfham Can. Chron. 
Wagenfeilii Tele ignea. Scaliger de Emend, temp. lib. vi. Sir 
Ifaac Newton on Dan. chap. x. cum multis aliis. 

The tenth and eleventh chapters of Daniel comprehend the 
hiftory of thofe empires, with which the Jews were concerned, 
and of the Jewilh church till the coming of Chrift, yea, and of 
the Chriftian church, fay forne, from thence to the end of time. 
That great enemy of Chriftianity, Porphyry, was fo ftruck with 
the conformity of events to this prophecy, that he ventured to 
affirm, the book of Daniel was written after the reign of Antio- 
chus Epiphanes. St. Jerom fays, Methodius, Eufebius, and Apol- 
linarious, folidly refuted' this Pagan philofopher. Prsefat. in 
Daniel. 

Expofitors give different comments on the laft part of the c- 
leventh chapter, from the 21ft verfe to the end. Hulfius, and o- 
thers, apply it wholly to Antichrift. " De Vallibus prephetar. 
facris. Exerc. xiv. Porphyry" formerly, and of late Grotius, 
confine the whole to Antiochus. Others apply to Antiochus the 
period from verfe 21, to ver. 36, and the remaining part to An- 
tichrift; Others again underitand the whole literally of Antio- 
chus, and typically of Antichrift, 



( 256 ) 



ranee. Who does not know, that even the Jews 
themfelves had almoft nothing pure among them ? 
little elfe remained but falfe traditions, horrible depra- 
vations, worldly intrigues, obfcene and fcandalous 
manners. There reigned Pharifaic hypocrify, the 
ambition of priefts, the impiety of Sadducees, the a- 
varice of Publicans, the debaucheries of Herodians. 
The meaning of the law was darkened and perplex- 
ed with a thoufand falfe gloffes, * religion had loft 
all its efficacy, the temple was profaned with buyers 
and fellers, the high-priefthood itfelf was faleable, the 
Romans difpofed of it as they pleafed, and frequent- 
ly bellowed it on the moft abandoned libertines, who, 
under the dignity of the mitre concealed a thoufand 
errors, a thoufand vices. Yet in fuch a profligate 
age, in an age fo worthy of the abhorrence of God, 
he remembered his promifes, awoke like the mighty 
God, and fent his beloved fon into the w orld. 'f 

* " When Jefus Chrift came the law was obfcured by falfe 
glories." The truth of this remark is evident to every reader of 
the new-teftament ; the doctors of the law had made it of no ef- 
fect by their traditions. It is certain, however, that the holy 
fcriptures may be greatly elucidated by Jewiih profane writings. 
Buxtorf — Drufius — the two Cappells — Lightfoot — Gill — and 
many others have illuftrated fcripture by thefe writings. The 
works of Philo and Jofephus— the two Talmuds — the Mifna— 
Gemara — the books of the Rabbies — and Chriftian inveftigators 
of Jewifh antiquities — all throw light on the fcriptures in gene- 
ral, and on the new-teftament in particular. 

f " The Romans difpofed of thepriefthood." Herod the great 
by his marrying into the Afmonsean family gained an afcendancy 
over the prieithood, confecrating and depofing at pleafure. Ar- 
chelaus, his fon and fuccefTor, during the ten years of his reign 
did the fame. After the kingdom of Judea was reduced to a pro- 
vince of Rome, and was governed by procurators appointed by 
the Emperors, the fame practice became more frequent. 

" In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Annas and Caiaphas were 
high priefts." Luke hi. 2. Scaliger, Cafaubon, Godwin, and 
many learned men, think Annas was Sagan, or Suffragan to the 



( 257 ) 



St Auftin fomewhere afks, Why God deferred the 
miffion of Jefus Chrift fo long ? Why was he not 
fent immediately after the fall of Adam ?* Might we 

high-prieft Caiaphas this year : but others fay, they were fuccef- 
fively high-priefts in the year, or that, having held the office be- 
fore, they retained the title, after they were depofed. 

The priefthood was faleable. The buying of church prefer- 
ments, which we call Simony, from Simon, the forcerer, who firft 
offered money for fpiritual gifts in the Chriftian church, A£fcs 
viii. 1 8. implies patronage, emoluments, and avarice. Thofe 
churches, therefore, will have moft of the firft, in which there 
are moft of the laft. Where all the congregation are patrons, 
and where tithes are free gifts following minifterial merit, ava- 
rice will have but a poor foil, and will never ripen into Simony. 
The church of Rome, being a very rich corporation, and nomi- 
nation to office being in individuals, and not in the people at 
large, abounds with this pernicious practice. In the eftablifhed 
church of England, a benefice becomes void ipfo fa£to by Simo- 
ny. Blackftone, b. i. c. 2. 

Chriftian cafuifts, even in the moft corrupt communities, de- 
clare, a man may be guilty of Simony, not only by giving money 
for a benefice : but even by obtaining one by promifes, flatteries, 
folicitations, canvaffing, &c. This was the opinion of Gregory 
the great, for which, the worft Simoniacs praife him. Hift. de 
Gregoire par Maimbourg. 

We may truly pronounce thofe churches happy, however plain 
and poor, in which 

No Simony, nor fine-cure is known, 

Where works the bee — no honey for the drone.— Garth. 

Chrift came in a profligate age. The fceptre was now depart- 
ing from J udah, it departed wholly about forty years after, be- 
fore which time ancient prophecies had taught mankind to expecT 
a Saviour. To ufe the words of a modern prelate. u If the 
Meffiah came a little before that period, prejudice itfelf cannot 
long make any doubt concerning the perfon. All confiderate 
men muft fay, as Simon Peter faid to Jefus, " Lord, to whom 
fell we go ? thou haft the words of eternal life." Bp. Newton 
on the prophecies. 

The various fenfes of this prophecy are fummed up in^ God- 
win's Mofes and Aaron, and critically examined by Reizius in 
his notes on the place. L. i. c. 1. 

* " S. Auftin alks, Why our Saviour was not fent immediate- 
ly after the fail ?" Our author very properly difmiffes this im- 
pertinent queftion, to make room for the diicuflion of other, and 

K k 



( 258 ) 



not as well enquire, Why he came before the end of 
the world? I know, many reafons may be affigned 
for this difpenfation of divine wifdom ; as that God 
would leave men for many ages in a ftate of fin, in- 
order to make them more fenfible of the neceffity of 
grace ; that they might more fully acknowledge the 
greatnefs of their mifery by obferving the great difor- 
ders, which fin had introduced ; that God chofe to 
let many ages pafs in order to prepare the way of the 
Mefiiah. and to provide for his reception among man- 
kind. But what fignifies our affigriing reafons for an 
event, which abfokitely depended on the good will 
and pleafure of God ? He fent his fon into the world, 
when he pleafed, and that is fufficient for us without 
farther inquiry. He is fole lord of times and fea- 
fons, and has referved them in his own power. It is 
enough to know, that the times of events are fixed in 
the eternal decrees, and that the events never fail to 
take place at the times fo appointed by God. 

The angel exprefsly mentions the place of Chrift's 
birth, the city of David. David's city you know, is 
Bethlehem, called his city, becaufe, as his hiftory in- 
forms us, he was born there. The prophet Micah 
had a long time before openly declared the Meffiah s 
birth-place. Thou Bethlehem, faid he, in the land 
if Judah^ art not the leaf among the princes of Ju- 
dah,for out of thee fn all come a governor ; that fhall 
rule my people Ifrael : and divine wifdom fo or- 

more proper articles. S- Auftin was a great queftion — monger, 
and has left us Quseftiones, and Ouseftiunculas without end. In 
his feven books of Oueftions on the old-teftament only, he has 
pro^ofed, if I reckon rightly, 649 queftions, many of which are 
abfurdly aiked, and as abfurdly anfwered There are in his City 
of God, which fome, who will not venture Terence with a young 
ftudent, account his bed work, and put into the hands of pupils, 
indecencies equal to if not beyond any in heathen writers.. 



• 



( 259 ) 



tiered events, that, by the birth of our Lord at Beth- 
lehem, it manifeftly appeared, he was of the family 
and pofterity of David. * For, the Emperor Au- 

* " Our Lord was of the family of David." 

A great many errors, it is readily allowed, have crept even in- 
to fcripture genealogies, as Whifton, and others, have {hewn, 
and, without a perpetual miracle in favour of copyifts, it could 
not have been otherwife : but there are no difficulties in the ge- 
nealogies of Chrift fufficient to create a doubt concerning his fa- 
mily. The chief difficulty lies in reconciling the two genealo= 
gles of S. Matthew and S. Luke. 

The followers of Ebion, and Cerinthus, Fauftus Manichaeus, 
and fome latter critics, thought the genealogy in St. Matthew, 
and fome following parts, were not written by the Evangelift : 
but by fome uninfpired perfon, and prefixed to his gofpel after 
his death. Their reafons are related and refuted by Sixtus Se- 
nenfis. Bib. fanet. vii. 2. Le Clerc fays, it looks as if S. Matthew 
quoted in the firft verfe a book of the origin of Chrift, from 
wkich he took all that follows, as far as the 16th verfe. How- 
ever this maybe, ten perfons are omitted in this genealogy. 

Father SimGn lays down an hypothefis, by which he pretends 
to remove many difficulties from the text of the old-teftament. 
and among them the chronological difficulties of genealogies, 
But his hypothefis feems liable to more objections than all, that at 
prefent can be brought againft the Hebrew text. He fuppofes, 
fcribes, divinely infpired, faithfully collected from time to time, 
all public a£ts, and recorded and preferved them in national ar- 
chives. This prefent text, he thinks, is an epitome of thefe re j 
cords, and of annals written by uninfpired fcribes. This hypo- 
thefis would have ierved an enquiry concerning the family of Je- 
fus Chrift among the Jews of his time, becauie they could have 
gone from fhort accounts, that were publifhed, to larger and exacl: 
records in archives : but of what fervice is this to us, who are 
to judge of a whole by feeing a mutilated part ? 

Some of our divines, one of whom is Dr. Lightfoor, fay, S. 
Luke reckoned by Mary, and S. Matthew by Jofeph. Le Clerc, 
and others, think, both are genealogies of Jofeph, the one his 
legal, the other his natural line. They paraphrafe Luke iii. 23. 
thus, " When Jefus firft began to preach the gofpel, which he 
did a little after he had been baptized by John, he was about 
thirty years old, and was of the ftock of David, his mother be- 
ing of the fame family, as alfo Jofeph her huiband, who was the 
fon of" &c. Le Clerc. in Loc. 

Others again, call this in Luke the legal genealogy of our Sa- 
viour's defcentfrom his fuppofed father Jofeph, and that in Mat- 

Kk 2 



( 260 } 



guftus having iffued out a decree for the inroilment 
of all the Jews, all the members of that kingdom 
were obliged to appear at the places, from which 
they were originally defcended, in order to be enrol- 
led, each in his own family : therefore the appear- 
ance of Jofeph and Mary at Bethlehem demonftrates 
their defcent from David, as for that reafon only they 
went there. * 

But, it is not neceffary to infifl: on the place, it is 
much more important to confider the quality of this 

thew the natural genealogy of his defcent from hU mother ; but. 
as Heinfius hath properly obferved, both genealogies are faid to 
be pedigrees of Jofeph, Mat. i. 16. Lukeiii. 23. and the Jews 
proverbially faid, a maternal family is no family, for they always 
reckoned genealogies by the hufbands, who fometimes fucceed- 
ed their predecefTors by adoption, affinity, confanguinity, &c. 

* " The inroilment of the Jews ascertained the family of Je~ 
fus Chrift." " Auguftus was then at work on the compofure 
of a book, containing fuch a furvey and defcription of the whole 
Roman Empire, as that, which our Doom's-day book made by 
William the Norman, doth for England. The decree was iflued 
three years before the birth of Chrift, and the care of executing 
it committed to the governor of each province. The governor 
of Syria (in which province Judea was) having carried it on 
through all parts of his province, three years after the date of the 
faid decree executed it at Bethlehem at the time when Chrift 
was born there* Joab was nine months in taking an account of 
only the men fit for war in ten tribes, our Doom's-day book was 
fix years in making, and the province of Syria was much more 
than twice as big as all England. But though the furvey was 
then made for Judea, and every man's pofTeffions eftimated and 
valued, yet no tax was laid or levied according to that valuation, 
till the depofing of Archelaus, and the reducing of Judea under 
the Roman government, in the twelfth year after, when Cyre- 
nius was governor of Syria : fo that there were two diltinc"t par- 
ticular actions in this matter, done at two diftinft and different 
times, the firft making the defcription or furvey, and the fecond 
the laying and levying the tax thereupon. What is in the firft 
verfe of the fecond of Luke, is to be underftood of the fortwr of 
thefe, and what is in the second verfe only of the latter" 

"Dean Prideaux's Connection, part 2. bcok 9. 

See the " Chronology of the Rev. Dr r Blair," and particular- 
ly the preface to that accurate and beautiful work. 



( 261 ) 

great news. I bring you, fays the angel, glad tidings 
of great joy which Jhall be to all people. Joy is the 
fell fruit of the entrance of Jefus Chrift into the 
world, witnefs John the Baptift, who, being yet in 
his mothers womb, leaped for joy at the approach 
of the divine infant : but this joy is not to one or 
two, to John Baptift or Elizabeth only, it is a public, 
general joy, it Jhall be to all people, fays the angel. 
Nor is it an ordinary and indifferent joy, they are 
tidings of great joy r the greateft of all the benefits, 
that the church could receive, the firft and moil ex- 
cellent of all the benedictions of God. 

To make you more particularly fenfible of it, per- 
mit us to quit the explication of the text, to omit 
henceforth the angels and the fhepherds, and to ap- 
ply the fubject toourfelves, that fo we may the bet- 
ter perceive the greatnefs of that joy, with which we 
ought to remember the nativity of Jefus Chrift. f 

* " We ought to remember the nativity of Chrift with great 

j°y- 

Oh ye cold-hearted, frozen, formalifts ! 
On fuch a theme, 'tis impious to be calm ; 
PaiTion is reafon, tranfport temper, here* 
Shall heaven, which gave us order, and has fhown 
Her own for man fo flrongly, not difdain 
"What fmooth emollients in theology, 
Recumbent virtues downy doctors preach, 
That profe of piety, a lukewarm praife? 
Rife odours fweet from incenfe uninftam'd ? 
Devotion, when luke warm, is undevout^ 
But when it glows, its heat is ftruck to heav'n j 
To human hearts her golden harps are ftrung ; 
High heav'n's Orcheftra chaunts Amen to Man. 

Night Thoughts, AT. 4. 
. . . Happy day ! that breaks our chain *, 
That manumits ; that calls from exile home ; 
That leads to nature's great Metropolis, 
And readmits us thro' the guardian hand 
Of elder brothers, to our Father's throne 5 



( 262 ) 



Here you may commence a lively exhortation ig 
joy, the motives to which may be taken from the 
terms of the text— that there is a Saviour — that it is 
Chrift — that he is the Lord — that after being fo 
long expeded at length he came — that he was born 
for us — that we have an intereft in him above an- 
gels—that he has teftified his love to us by fubmit- 
ting to finlefs infirmities — you may compare his firft 
with his laft advent, and difpofe your auditors to 
feel a ftill greater joy in expe&ation of his coming 
to raife them from the dead, and putting the laft 
hand to the work of our redemptio n — then will he 
appear a Saviour indeed, for he will complete the 
falvation of the faithful — Then will he appear a 
Chrift indeed, for he will finifh the defign of his 
un&ion, and will make us kings and priefts to God 
his father.- — Then will he appear Lord indeed, for 
all things fhall be iubje&ed to him, he will triumph 
over all our enemies, he will fwallow up death in 
vi&ory, and he will elevate us to the poffeffion of e- 
ternal glory. * 

Who hears our advocate, and thro' his wounds 

Beholding man, allows that tender name. 

'Tis this makes chriftian triumph, a command j 

9 Tis this makes joy a duty to the wife ; 

'Tis impious in a good man to be fad. 

Night Thoughts ', N. 4. 
* " All things will be fubjecl to him, and he will elevate us to 
eternal glory.'' Our author explains this fubjecl: more fully in a 
letter to a young lady, dated at Montauban, July 2. 1664. Mr, 
Claude's correfpondent had enquired the meaning of this expref- 
fion of S. Paul, " When all things fhall be fubdued unto the 
Son, than fhall the Son alfo himfelf be fubjecl to the Father/' t 
Cor. xv. 28. His letter is an anfwer to her enquiry. The fol- 
lowing is the fubftance of it. Expofitors render this fubjecl: dif- 
ficult by explaining it of a permanent fubjeclion, beginning at 
the end of the ceconomical reign of Chrift, and continuing for 
ever — Seme underftand it only of the human nature of Chrift ; 
hut the human nature is fubjecl now ; and S* Paul fpeaks of a 



{ 263 ) 



Having fpoken of fimple terms, I proceed to add 
fomething concerning exprejjions peculiar to fcrip- 

fubjedtion, that <c commences, when all things are fubdued"— 
Cameron, and others, understand it of a clearer difplay of the 
natural fubje&ion of the -human nature of Chrift to the deity 
than we have now, for now the deity reigns by the man : but the 
human nature of Chrift has no {hare in the government of the 
church now. The eflential attributes of the deity are incommu- 
nicable, and fo is the exercife of them. We {hall then, indeed, 
enjoy felicity, as the human nature of Chrift enjoys it now, by 
an immediate communication from God : but this will be owing 
riot to Chrift 's fubje&ion: but to our elevation. — The pafTage 
cannot be underftood of the human nature merely, becaufe S. 
Paul fays, the Son {hall be fubje6t, now it is not ufual with S. 
Paul to exprefs merely the human nature of Chrift by this word. 
Befide, he oppofes the fubje&ion of the Son to his dominion. 
Now it is certain he reigns by his divinity, and not merely by 
his humanity. — In {hort, the apoftle fpeaks of a momentary fub- 
jecYion, the laft a£t of his mediatorial kingdom, confequently an 
ceconomical act, agreeing with his divine nature, without preju- 
dice to his equality. It is what S. Paul calls verfe 24, a cc de- 
livering up of the kingdom to the Father." Glorious a£t ! the 
Son prefents to the Father at the laft day, an account of his whole 
ceconomy for public approbation : The world judged— the righ- 
teous rewarded — the wicked punifhed— devils confined — death 
fwallowed up in victory— eternal election accomplifhed — heaven 
peopled with a holy multitude — " Behold me, and the children, 
whom thou haft given me !" 

Then will God be all in all that is all things in all his faints. 
This imports, that God will extend his divine communication—- 
will beftow an abfolute perfection — and will become the plenitude 
of man. God has communicated himfelf to man in nature by 
dividing his favours, one creature is an image of his power, ano- 
ther difplays his wifdom. So in grace, God has dijlributed his 
gifts, " to one a word of wifdom, to another a gift of healing, 
to another divers kinds of tongues." But when God becomes 
all in all, he will communicate his blefiings in all their extent, 
aflembling all in one. God alfo will beftow perfection, God 
might give to one creature all graces in kind, and at the fame time 
he might leave them in low degrees of excellence. But when he 
becomes all in all, he will give 2. perfection of degree, and all graces 
{hall be carried to their higheft pitch of excellence. God alfo 
will become the plenitude of man. God was not all things in 
Adam. Mutability, a poffibility of erring, and dying were parts 
of humanity, vacuities not filled up.— God is not all things in 
the militant church. Sin, trouble, ficknefs, death, all thefe are 



( 264. ) 



ture. Thefe deferve a particular explanation, and 
fhould be difcuffed and urged with great diligence, 
as well becaufe they are peculiar modes ©f fpeaking, 
as becaufe they are rich with meaning. In this clafs 
I put fuch forms of fpeaking as thefe. To be in 
Chrijl Jefus. — -To come to Jefus Chr'ifl. — To come 
after Jefus Chrifl. — To live in the flefh. — To live 
after the fiefh. — From faith to faith.- — From glory to 
glory. — To walk after the flefi. — To walk after the 
fpirit. — The old man. — The new man. — Jefus Chrijl 
lives in you.— -To live to Jefus Chrijl.— To live to 
ourfelves. — To die to the world. — To die to our/elves. 

ours as men, or ours as fallen men deriving from Satan. Here 
in our beft ft ate, we refemble the moon, of which half only is 
illuminated at a time by the fun : but when God becomes all in 
all, we mail be immerfed in the eternal light of our God, as 
thofe, who at noon have the fun in their zenith, are all involved 
in the rays of the fun. Hence this happy ftate is neither called 
nature, nor grace, but glory ; for glory is an aflemblage of all 
the benedictions of God — in a degree fupremely perfect — fill- 
ing the whole of man. 

I think there are more than twenty fenfes given of the other 
expreflionyou mention, being baptized for the dead. — You know 
them all — Mr Amyraut rejects that, which Diodati receives — ■ 
he refutes a fecond, that Mr De La Place embraces — and the 
third, which he after Luther adopts, is as little likely as the reft 
—I proteft, madam, I think it would be attempting to fly with- 
out wings, to pretend to invent another — and it would be pre- 
fumptuous to give it for a true meaning. — For my part— I have 
examined them all— and at laft I like my own opinion beft — 
and that is— that I know nothing about it. Wefhall underftand 
it, when God fhall be all in all. 

I am— &c. 

Oeuvres Pojthumes torn. v. let. i, 
I admire our author for his penetration on the firft of thefe 
paflages : but I love him for his modefty on the laft, his piety 
edifies me more than his genius. Had all our divines done thus 
on impenetrable myfteries, the Satirift would not have been 

provoked to have faid to the goddefs of dulnefs Divines 

For thee difpute a thing till all men doubt it, 
And write about it, Goddefs ! and about it. 

•Pope s Dunciad. 



( 265 ) 



™Jb be crucified to the worlds—The world to be 
crucified to us, — Jefus Chrijl made Jin for us, we 
made the righteoufnejs of God in him*— Ch rift put 
to death in the flejh^ quickened by the fpirit.—Die un- 
to Jin.— -Live unto righteoujncjs -.—Quench thejpirit* 
—Grieve the Jpirit.—Rejijt the holy ghqft. — Sin a- 
gainjl the holy ghqft. — And I know not how many 
more fuch exprefiions, which are found almofl no 
where but in fcripture. Whenever you meet with 
fuch forms of fpeech as thefe, you muft not pafs 
them over lightly, but you muft fully explain them, 
entering well into the fpirit and meaning of them. 
It would be very convenient for a young man to pro- 
cure for this purpofe an exa£t collection, * and en- 
deavour to inform himfelf of the fenfe of each, f 

* " A young minifter mould procure an exacl: collection of 
expreffions peculiar to fcripture." The excellent fuperintendent 
of the churches in Saxe Gotha, to whofe learned labours chrif- 
tian minifters are fo much indebted, treats this fubje£t, as he 
does every other, with the utmoft perfpicuity. 

He eftablifhes firft the general purity of the original fcrip- 
tures. Then he proves that the ftyle of the biblical writers is in 
general " plain, fimple, powerful, evident, full, concife, connected 
modeft and proper." Next he enters into a particular examina- 
tion of the peculiarities of the prophetical ftyle, &c. Laftly he 
confiders the new-teftament. I. In general, i . It was written in 
Greek. 2. It has many hebraifms in it. 3. It has Chaldee-Syriac 
idioms. 4. It contains many Syriac words. 5. There are in it 
many Latin words tranflated into Greek, &c. &c. II. In parti- 
cular he confiders the ftyles of S. John, and S. Paul. The fol- 
lowing will exemplify his manner. 

* <s A young minifter {hould endeavour to underftand the 
fenfe of fcripture. ,> " It is not without reafon (fays an ancient 
writer) tl)at God has been pleafed to reveal fome things in fcrip- 
ture very clearly, and others very obfcurelyj it difplays his wif« 
dom and providence. If all were clear, what would there be 
to exercife our diligence ? If all were obfcure, how could we 
underftand it ? The obfcure parts receive light from the clear* 
and if } after all, fome places remain obfcure, this great benefit 

L 1 ' 



( 266 ) 



This fubjecTt would require, as it well deferves, a 
particular treatife ; however, I will briefly give an 

arifes frbm it, it ferves to abafe human pride." Ifidore. D. lib. iv, 
ep. 82. 

Our laft note regarded the letter more than the meaning of 
fcripture. In regard to the general meaning of fcripture, fome 
writers lay it down for a certain rule, that every palTage has 
both a literal and a myftical meaning. The Cabaliftic Rabbies 
adopt this notion, fo do many chriftians, both Papifts and Pro- 
teftants : fay they, a twofold meaning, the one literal, the other 
figurative. Others affirm, that the literal meaning only is to be 
admitted, and that the notion of a myftical fenfe is dangerous to 
the divinity of the fcriptures. The truth feems to lie, as ufually, 
between the two. " Scripture in general has only a literal 
meaning : but in fome paftages it has alfo a myftical fenfe." 
Where canons of interpretation, as data of expolitors, are agreed 
on, there is no danger. Our Saviour, countenances, at leaft, this 
notion. Matt. xii. 39. 40. and in many other places. Some argue 
for our notion. 1 . From a definition of fcripture - 2- From ex- 
amples in fcripture. 3. From the abfurdity of either of the above 
notions. 4. From the five-fold rule of interpreting fcripture, laid 
down by S. Paul. 2 Tim. iii. i6„ Rom. xv. 4, See Glajftus ubi 
fupra. 

In regard to the meaning of a word, or a phrafe peculiar to 
one writer, the meaning of it can only be taken from eircum- 
ftances relative to that one writer. An expofitor of a phrafe of 
S. Paul fhould endeavour to enter into the childhood, youth, 
education, company, travels, converfion, books, genius, temper, 
fentiments, motives, fufTerings, and views of this apoftle. And 
fo of others. A young minifter muft put off a thoufand preju- 
dices to do this, for moil of us have reafon enough to complain 

— — By education we have been mifled ; 

So we believe, becaufe we were fo bred. 
The prieft continues what the nurfe began j 

And thus the child impofes on the man. 

Hind and Panther, 

Thisfelf-denying practice, however* has the ftrongeft motives 
to enforce it, for, what the Earl of Rofcommon faid of a famous 
Englilh preacher, may be truly applied to fuch a perfom He 

Extenffve (enfe ft ill into compafs drew, 

Said what was juft, and always fomething new. 

Qn the contrary, a man, who without ftudying the writer** 
JTieannig* whofe words he pretends to explain, racks his own 



( 267 ) 

example of the manner, in which expreffions of this 
kind mould be difcufled. Let us take thefe words, 
Mark viii. 34. Whofoever will come after me^ let him 
deny himfelf and take up bis cr of $, and follow me. 
Methinks it would not be improper to divide the 
fermon into two parts. In the firft we would treat 
of the expreffions, which Jefus ufes, Come after me—-* 
deny him f elf —take up his crofs—-a?td follow me* 
And in the fecond we would examine the entire/*///? 
of our Saviour's whole prepoftion. 

To begin then with the explication of thefe ex- 
preffions. To come after Jefus Chrift fignifies no 
other thing than to be his difciples, to take him for 
the rule and model of our conduct, in a word, to 
profefs an acknowledgment of him as our head and 
mafter, our fupreme prophet and teacher, our pattern 
and exemplar. You may reduce all the ideas con- 
tained in this expreffion, to four articles. 

1. That we take from Chrift and his dodrine all 
our light and knowledge, as from the perfon, who 
fpeaks to us on God's part, and whom God com- 
mands us to hear. Here you may mention Mofes's 
prophecy, A prophet like unto me fhall the Lord your 
God raife up unto you from among your brethren, him 
fhall ye hear. To this may be added the voice* 
which was heard at the transfiguration of Jefus 
Chrift, This is my beloved fon^ hear ye him, Now, 
becaufe it is common for difciples to arrange them- 
feives near th eir mafter, and to go after him^ the Lord 
exprefles faith in his inftruclion by the words, Come 
after me. 

2. That we yield all kinds of fervice^and obedience 

invention to make the moll of his text, will fay the moft abfurd 
things imaginable, and expofe himfelf to the cenfure of thinking 
people* 

Ll 2 



( 268 ) 



to him as to our fovereign Lord ; for fervants gener- 
ally follow their matters, and do not wander far from 
their prefence. They wait at hand to receive their 
matters commands, and to employ all their time and 
ttrength in the advancement of their interefts. 

The profeflion of chriftianity engages us to this in 
regard to Jefus Chrift, obliging us . to acknowledge 
him as our fovereign, and inceffantly to eye his fer- 
vice and glory. To this may be referred the title, 
which S. Paul and the other apoftles claim, ferv ants 
of Jefus Chri/l, juft as Mofes is called the fervant of 
God, that is, his minifter and officer acting by his or- 
ders, and therefore Jefus Chrift calls all believers 
his fervants, Where I am, there Jhall alfo my fervant 
be. 

3. That we concur 'with him, and under him, in 
one and the fame deftgn and work, in the fame man- 
ner as fubaltern officers and foldiers in an army 
march after their general, concurring with him and 
under him to the glory of the king their common 
Lord. A chriftian profeflion engages us to this con- 
formity. Jefus Chrift is confidered as the head officer 
in this myftical war, which is carrying on againft the 
enemies of God, in order to deftroy the empire of 
fin and Satan, and to eftablifh that of the Creator. * 

* f< Chriftians mould concur with Jefus Chrift in his defign 
of deftroying the empire of fin," This idea of chriftianity is juft 
and fcriptural, and S. Paul makes a particular application of it 
to minifters. 2 Cor. vi. 1. "We, as workers together with him, 
sunergountes befeech you," Sec. Some divines understand the 
apoftle as fpeaking of colleagues, fellow-f minifters, as if he had 
faid, We, then, who are the able minifters of the new-teftament. 
iii. 6. We fellow-labourers, befeech you, &c. Others take the 
meaning to be We, who are workers together with God, be- 
feech you, &c. Calvin prefers the laft fenfe, and fays, the doc- 
Ifijie of the gofpel is to be enforced by minifterial reafoning, ex- 



( 269 ) 



4» That we imitate the great and admirable ex- 
amples of virtue, which he has left us both in his life 
and death; hoping that, as we follow his example 
here, we mail hereafter participate his glory. It is 
very common to fay, we go after fuch an one, we 
follow the path of fuch an one, we walk in his fteps, 
and fo on, when we propofe any one as an example 
worthy of our imitation. * 

5. To thefe may be added another idea, which is 
expecling to receive the benefits of Jems Chrift ; for 
it is very common for the poor and miferable to go 
after thofe, whofe favours they expect: to receive. 
Believers, then, are reprefented as men, who acknow- 
ledging their natural indigence, follow Jems Chrift 
in order to receive out of his fulnefs grace for grace. 

Deny himfelf is an expreffion fo lingular, that it 
feems to {hock reafon and nature, and to fuppofe a 
thing difficult, yea, abfolutely impoffible, or at leaft 
extremely criminal. Who ever heard of denying 

hortation, fuafion, &c. and that the minifter, who does this, 
works, or concurs with God. In loc. 

Our moft able divines, entering into this juft and beautiful 
notion of the chriftian miniftry, are always careful to bring the 
truths of religion home to the bofoms, the confciences of men; 
for all our irregularities originate in our pallions, and to attack 
them is to lay the ax to the root of the tree ; all, however, are 
not equally happy in a method of doing this. 

* " Jefus Chrift is an example worthy of our imitation." The 
actions of our blefled Lord are divifible into two clafies in this 
view. Some of them were peculiar to him, and are inimitable 
by us. We are not able to imitate them, nor are we required to 
attempt to do it. Other actions were exemplary in him, and we 
are bound to imitate them. Some of his actions are to be imitated 
in kind : but are inimitable in degree. We may fafb ; but we 
cannot taft forty days. The ikill of a minifter appears very much 
in his advice to his flock on this fubject. It would be deft ru6tive 
of religion, on the one hand, to difcourage pious people in their 
honeft endeavours to imitate Chrift in practicable actions ; and 
it would be cruel to harrafs them, on the other, with injunctions, 
which they have neither command, nor power to obey. 



( 270 } 



one*s felf ? Can we divide ourfeives from ourfeives ? 
Can we exinguifh that ardent love, which nature 
has given us for ourfeives ? Are not they, who fall 
into this extreme of hating themfelves, juftly con- 
fidered as madmen ? Yet, it is certain, nothing can 
be more holy, nothing more neceifary, nothing more 
juft, than this felf-renunciation, which Jefus Chrift 
here ordains. * He does not mean, that we mould 
divide ourfeives from ourfeives, or that we mould 
hate ourfeives, to attempt either would be criminal 
or impofTible : but he intends 

i. In general, that we mould renounce all that is 
in us excejfive^ vicious and irregular ; this he calls 
felf, becaufe corruption is become, as it were, natural 
to us, we being conceived in fin^ and fhapen in ini- 

* Nothing is more neceiTary than felf- denial." Befide all that 
felf -denial, which belongs to minifters in common with their 
fellow-chriftians, there are exercifes of it peculiar to divines, 
and effential to the difcharge of the paftoral office. Vifiting and 
converfing with the poor, and allowing them to come for fpiritu- 
al advice, are articles of this kind. 

The pious Bilhop of Nifmes complains of four forts of clergy- 
men in his diocefe, who erred in this matter. " The firfl are 
inacceflible. Mr Rector is by himfelf, and will fpeak to nobody, 
he will not be interrupted. Or Mr Rector has got company, he 
is engaged in converfation. Very likely he is talking politics, 
or country-news, or he is ftudying how to augment his.tithes, 
to fecure his patron, to get money, to go to law with his parifh. 
* — The fecend fort are infpired with a fpirit of haughtinefs and 
domination. The doctor will be mailer of his own parifh ! The 
curate cringes, the parifh trembles, when there is occafion to 
ff)eak to the doctor.— A third fort are ignorant of divinity, and 
careiefs of their duty. — And a fourth are full of vain-glory. The 
poor are difcouraged, the rich only are admitted. If a poor 
wretch comes to receive fome confolation, Mr Rector is not at 
home. If gentry come, Mr Rector is always at home, and at 
leifure to embrace them." Flechier Difcours Synodoux. 

All church-revenues, fay fome, are fiduciary, and become 
lapfed legacies, when the end, for which they were granted, is 
not anfwered. This is Engliih doctrine. Let us charitably hope 
the clergy of Languedoc had never heard of it. 



( 272 ) 



quity. Vices, errors, and exceffes will certainly 
operate as our moft powerful enemies, when we do 
not diftinguifh them from ourfelves : but on the con- 
trary confider them as our deareft and moft effential 
interefts. For this reafon the fcripture elfewhere re- 
quires us to become new creatures, to be transformed 
into new men; becaufe converfion makes us alto- 
gether different from what we were before. * 

2. He commands us particularly to renounce that 
violent, immoderate, and exceffive love, which man 
in a ftate of depravity has for himfelf, making felf- 
love his chief and only principle of adion, in one 
word, being a god to himfelf. Jefus Chrift means, 
then, that we mould love ourfelves but with a love 
fubordinate to that, which we have for God, 
whom we ought to love above all objects, even above 
ourfelves, f 

* " Conceived in fin." " It is manifeft that a tendency to 
fin does not confift in any particular external circumftances, but 
is inherent and is feated in that nature which is common to ail 
mankind, which they carry with them wherever they go, and 
ft ill remains the fame, however circumftances may differ . . • 
This is true of perfons of all conftitutions, capacities, conditions, 
manners, opinions, and educations ; in all countries, climates, 
nations, and ages and through all the mighty changes and re- 
volutions, which have come to pafs in the habitable world. We 
have the fame evidence, that the propenfity in this cafe lies in 
the nature of the fubjeft, and does not arife from any particular 
circumftances, as we have in any cafe whatfoever ; which is only 
by the effects appearing to be the fame in all changes of time 
and place, and under all varieties of circumftances. It is in this 
way only we judge, that any propenfi ties, which we obferve in 
mankind, are fuch as are feated in their nature in all other cafes, 
It is thus we judge of the mutual propenfity between the fexes, 
or of the difpofitions which are exercifed in any of the natural 
paflions or appetites, that " they truly belong to the nature of 
man ; becaufe they are obferved in mankind in general, through 
all countries, nations, and ages, and in all conditions. Dr. Jo- 
nath. Edwards of original fin. part. i. ch. i. f. 2. 

t " Jefus Chrift commands us to renounce exceilive felf-love." 



( 272 ) 



He means, that we fliould corre£t and change 
the very nature of that love, which we have been 
ufed to have for ourfelves. Inftead of feeking after 
ordinary pleafures, temporal interefts, and all the 
flattering gratifications of fenle and paffion ; Chrift 
would have us to love ourfelves with a more genu- 
ine and refined love, by feeking fpiritual bleffings, 
which regard not the body but the foul, not this 
fading life, but the life to come. Now this he calls 
renouncing ones felf, becaufe in the opinion of a fm- 
ful worldly man, to make that falfe love of tern- 
There is an entire agreement between civilians and divines on 
this article. The firlt of all teachers has faid, The jirft and great 
commandment is this, Thou malt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy mind. The fecond is like unto it, 
Thou malt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. On thefe two com- 
mandments hang all the law and the prophets, Mat. xxii. 37. 
Civilians fay — there are three forts of love adapted to three dif- 
ferent objects, fuperior, equal, or inferior to ourfelves. — God is 
a being infinitely perfect, on whom our exiftence and felicity 
depend. We owe him a love of devotion and obedience ; hence 
this firft fundamental principle, God is to be revered with all 
the powers of our fouls, &c. There is a love of efteem or affec- 
tion, with which we are bound to love ourfelves, and to feek, 
obtain, and increafe our own perfection and happinefs, as much 
aspoffible, provided we do not love ourfelves more than God. 
Hence this maxim, Man ought to do every thing in his power 
to acquire, retain, and augment his own perfection and happi- 
nefs, provided he can do fo without failing in his devotedriefs and 
obedience to God. The third kind of love is a love of benevo- 
lence, which men owe to one another. All men are naturally 
equal. Equality of nature demands equality of love. We are 
therefore bound to take as much pleafure in the happinefs of o- 
ther men, as in that of ourfelves, but not more ; we muft love 
them as we love ourfelves : but not love ourfelves lefs than we 
love our neighbour. Hence this laft fundamental maxim, One 
man ought to love another as he loves himfelf, and whatfoever 
he would that others mould do unto him, he ought alfo to do un- 
to them. « Heine ccii Elem. Juris Nat, et Gentium- Cumber- 
land de leg. 



( 2*73 ) 



poral interefts, is to fhock and deftroy the man him- 
felf. * 

4. He enjoins the renunciation of that falfe and 
perverfe pretence^ which all finners have, that they 
are their own matters, that no one has a right over 
them, that to themfelves only belongs the diipofition 
of words, actions, and thoughts. The Saviour means, 
that, renouncing this unjuft and foolifh pretence, we 
fliould fubmit ourfelves to the government and di- 
rection of God, confiding in the conducl of his wif- 
dom, and receiving him to reign in our hearts by his 
word and fpirit. -f 

* " Self-renunciation partly confifts in our preferring fpiri- 
tual advantages before pleafures, temporal interefts, and gratifi- 
cations of fenfe and paffion.'* No man ought to venture on the 
chriftian miniftry without this previous qualification. It is a 
difficult : but a fafe way into the office. Here, then, he mould 
acquaint himfelf, with the docmne of prejudices, particularly of 
thofe, which are called theological prejudices ; for the resigna- 
tion of thefe is an efTential part of minilterial felf-denial. 

f " God reigns in the hearts of his difciples by his word and 
fpirit." People in power have often required their inferiors to 
yield a blind fubmiffion of confcience to their religious dictates, 
under pretence of extending the empire of God. But if God 
reigns over the under ft anding, it is by evidence ; and his moral 
dominion over the heart cannot poffibly be eftablifhed without 
the voluntary exercife of rational powers. In all cafes of fub- 
miffion, where conviction and confcience are abfent, violent im- 
pofition on the one fide, and bafe hypocrify on the other, con- 
fpire to make a knave and a fool, or a tyrant and a Have. After 
the reformation was eftablifhed at Geneva, the magift rates af- 
fembled all the priefts in the country towns under their jurifdic- 
tion, and required them by fuch a day to renounce Popery, and 
to embrace the reformed religion. A venerable, fenfible old man, 
anfwered for the whole body, in the following proper manner. 
*' Mod honourable lords ! we are extremely lurprized at your 
commanding us all on a fudden, to renounce without mature de- 
liberation, and without conviction, our ancient religion, received 
by our anceftors, and by us, as a juft, a holy, and a fafe fyftem 
of divinity. You have, indeed, renounced it yourfelves, but not 
in an inftant, as you require us to quit it, for you allowed , 

M m 



( 274 ) 



Take up his croft, is an expreffion confecrated by 
Jefus Chrift to a facred purpofe, though it does not 
belong only to fcripture ftyle. Here two things are 
intended by it. The myftical crofs of converfion^ and 
the crofs of afflictions. 

i. Converfion is called in fcripture a crofs, I. Be- 
caufe fin and carnal lufts are made to die within our 
hearts, this the fcripture calls crucifying the old man. 
2. Becaufe the conqueft and death of our lufts can- 
not be effected without violent and fenfible pain, not 
much unlike the ftruggles of nature, when the union 
betwixt foul and body is diffolved. 3. Becaufe as the 
crucified become objects of horror and reproach to 
the whole world for meriting fo ignominious a pu- 
nilhment, fo in converfion the lufts, which we cruci- 
fy, become in our eyes obje&s of contempt, averfion, 
and horror. 

preachers a long time to propofe their doctrines to you, before 
you embraced them. We are your molt obedient fubje&s, how- 
ever we are alfo chriftians, redeemed by the blood of our Lord 
Jefus Chrift as well as you, and we are as eager to obtain falva- 
tion as you are. We humbly fupplicate ycu, therefore, for the 
honour of Jefus Chrift, our common Lord and Saviour, to fuffer 
us to examine, and to inform ourfelves,as you have done. Send 
us preachers to inftruct us, and to {hew us wherein we err, and 
then, if they can convince us, we will readily follow your ex- 
ample, and fubmit wholly to your will. The firft Syndic propo- 
ied this modeft requeft to the council. Bonnivard, late Prior of 
S. Victor, endeavoured to perfuade them to grant it, urging, — 
that consciences fliould be informed, and not forced — and that 
they, who embraced the reformation without conviction in one 
conjuncture of affairs, would probably in another return back to 
Popery. Farel, who was lefs moderate, thought it would be lo- 
fmg a fair opportunity of fpreading religion to allow their peti- 
tion, and he brought the magiftrates over to his opinion." The 
requeft was refufed, the reformation eftablifhed, and preachers 
were fent afterwards to inftrucl: thefe people. They were obli- 
ged, however, to go then, attended by guards, or the ruftics 
would have knocked them on the head. * So violently does com- 
mon fenfe revolt againft force in matters of reafon, conviction, 
and confcience. " Spon Hiftoire de Geneva, liv. iii. 1. 153^'" 



( 275 ) 



Afflictions are very juftly called crojes, not only 
becaufe nature fuffers, but alfo becaufe by thefe 
means we become the horror and reproach of the 
world, worldly men never difcovering a greater a- 
verfion from the gofpel and its profeffors than when 
they fee them periecuted. 

Finally, to follow Jefus Chri/l, is i. To become 
his difciple, to believe his doctrine, to approve his 
maxims, to be perfuaded of the truth of his myfteries 
and holinefs of his laws. 

2. To follow is to imitate him, to propofe him as 
our examplar and pattern in the whole conduct of 
our lives, to walk in the fame way as he walked, in 
order to obtain communion with him in glory. 

3. To profefs openly our fubjedtion to him, as our 
mafter and Lord, to obey his orders, &c. In a word, 
to follow is the fame as to come after him, which we 
juft now explained. This is the firft part. 

The fecond confifts in confidering the entire fenfe 
of Jefus Chrift's whole propofition. * He means, 

* e< Confider the entire fenfe of the whole propofition." Mr. 
Claude briefly (hews the propriety of the figure, and then enlarges 
on the meaning. He quits the crofs to apply himfelf to falsifi- 
cation, and affliction. A mode of preaching, this, very different 
from that, which he reproves, page 29. 

The Danifh clergy have a law, which forbids them to preach 
every thing, that comes into their heads, and commands them 
to deliver proper and pertinent truths in clear perfpicuous ftyle. 

The proper method, then, of difcuffing paffages of this kind 
confifts in clearly Hating a fact, proving it by plain evident ar- 
guments, and then ufing the figure to illuitrate the matter, and 
to render it affecting. We have a fine example of this inEzek. 
xvii. From the beginning of the 11th to the end of the 21ft 
verfe the prophet expreffes his meaning in clear explicit terms. 
The king of Babylon takes Jerufalem— captivates the royal fa- 
mily — and appoints one of them to govern under an oath of al- 
legiance to him — The royal Jew defpifes the oath — violates the 
treaty— offends God — and is juftly punifhed — God, however to 
fulfil his merciful defigns to the nation, takes a younger fon of 

M m 2 



( 276 ) 



then, that, if we would be really of the number of 
his difciples and followers, we muft fubmit to two 
things, fahdifi cation and affliction. 

i . Sanclif cation. Here enter into the fubjecT:, and 
£hew, how impofFible it is to belong to Jefus Chrift 
without forfaking fin, and entirely changing the life. 
The grace of God y that bringeth fahation, hath ap- 
peared to all men ; teaching us, that denying ungodli- 
nefsy and worldly lujls, we fhould live foberly, righ- 
ieoujly, and godlily in this prefcnt world, looking for 
that blejfed hope, and the glorious appearing of the 
great God, and our Saviour Jefut Cbrifl. * 

Thefe are St Paul's words to Titus, and three 

the fame royal family, and enables him tp reform the ftate and 
the church. The prophetical ftyle, refembling that of poetry, 
defcribes the royal family by a lofty cedar tree> and younger 
fons by the upper twigs, 

f " Looking for the glorious appearing of the great God." Ti- 
tus ii. ii. Mr Le Moyne thinks, " St Paul alludes to the Ca- 
biri, or great gods, which were worfhipped by the Samothra^ 
cians, and by the Cretans, and oppofes Jefus Chrift to them. 
He proves, that the worfhippers of thefe deities were full of 
talk concerning the appearance of them." But as all this 
fuppofed allufiqn is founded on two bare words, epiphaneia 
and megas, as theie is nothing in the whole epiftle to counte- 
nance it, except that it was written to an inhabitant of Crete, 
and as Jewiih theology included the fame ideas, the fuppofition 
feems more ingenious than true. Varia Sacra Stephani Le Moyne 
torn. ii. 

Grace teacheth us to live foberly, denying ungodlinefs. This 
paffage affords an example of what a learned writer calls the 
circumscriptive in St Paul's ftyle, "The apoftle, fays he, in 
important articles, circumfcribeshis meaning by including in the 
fame fentence affirmation and negation, inoluding the whole 
truth, and excluding error. Rom. iii. 28. "A man is jufti- 
fied by faith; without the deeds of the law."— Eph. ii. 8, 9, 10. 
" By grace ye are faved through faith; and that not of yourfelves. 
—It is the gift of God: it is not of works." — Tit. iii. 45. "The 
kindnefs of God our Saviour appeared: not by works of righte- 
eufnels j but he faved us according to his mercy." 



( 277 ) 



things may be remarked in them, grace, holinefs y 
and glory. And you may eafily obferve that grace 
conducts to glory only by means of holinefs: take 
away holinefs and grace and glory can never be join- 
ed together, The apoftle therefore does not fay. 
The grace of God hath appeared to all men, teach- 
ing us to look for the glorious appearing of Jesus 
Chrift: but, he fays, The grace of God hath appear- 
ed to all men, teaching us to deny ungodliness and 
worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and go~ 
dlily in this present world; and fo to be looking for 
that Helled hope, the glorious appearing of the great 
God and our Saviour Jefus Chrift Grace indeed ends 
in glory but it can only do fo by the intervention of 
holinefs, * 

* " Grace cannot end in glory without the intervention of 
holinefs 

Our divines obferve — -that there are three general fources 
of errors in chriftiaa morality. The fir ft is a notion of the mo- 
ral dignity of human nature. Pelaghnifm, by attributing too 
much to unaffifted human nature, and by denying the neceffity 
of divine grace in order to moral rectitude, gives a low, loofe 
morality, and fubverts the only true principle and foundation 
of evangelical holinefs. Socinianifm is defective on this article* 
San&itas, fays Crellius, eft obfervatio mandatorum Dei aut 
Chriiti, Ethic. Chrift. lib. ii. cap. 4. Vide etiam ejufdem 
Crellii lib. cui tit. Echica Ariftotelica ad facrarum literarum 
norman emendata. The far greater part of the divines in the 
church of Rome err on this article, and, from the pelagian no- 
tion of human nature, derive the merit of good works the doc- 
trine of fupererogation, and rrany more fuch errors. This is a 
very faftiionable morality with us : but it feems incongruous 
with the fcripturs doctrines of human depravity, and the aflift- 
ance of the holy fpirit ; it is a worldly decency adapted to the 
genteel luxury of the prefent age, it may keep a man from the 
gallows ; but, it mould feem, it is not that holinefs, without 
which none fhall fee the Lord. The morality of the old pha- 
rifees was of this corrupt kind : but we know who hath faid, 
*' Except your fan6Hty,or righteoufnefs exceed the righteoufnefs 



( 278 } 



You may alfo alledge to the fame purpofe, the 
end of Jefus Chrift's coaling into the world, which 
was not only to deftroy fin, as it fubjecled us to e- 
ternal punifhment, but as fin. You may finally, 
fhew, how much it is for the glory of the Father, 
and of Jefus Chrift, and for the reality and pleni- 
tude of falvation, that the difciples of Jefus mould 
be fan&ified. * 

of the {bribes and pharifees, ye {hall in no' wife enter into the 
kingdom of heaven." Mat. v. 20. 

A fecond fource of errors on the article of chriftian morality, 
is a pretended Calvinifm, which, under a {hew of avoiding the 
firft error by attributing all to grace, deftroys the freedom of 
human actions, reduces man to a mere machine, and runs into 
the fpring whence it firll proceeded, the ftoical fatalifm. I 
call this pretended Calvinifm, becaufe it was not the fyftem of 
that great man; nor is it the fyftem of holy fcripture, which 
never fo ftates the doctrine of the fall as to exculpate finners, 
nor ever fo fpeaks of divine influences as to annihilate moral a- 
gency. The Dominicans, and the Janfenifts in the church 
of Rome, have been taxed with this error : and fo have the 
Calvinift reformed divines: but the latter have been well de- 
fended by Monf. Jurieu. Juftific. dod. moral, contr. accufat. 
Anton. Arnald. 

The third fource is enthufiafm, which attributes thofe ac- 
tions to the operations of grace, that originate in our own ig- 
norance, fancy, fuperftition, fiery zeal, and fo on. A good fy- 
ftem of Chriftian ethics is as different from the quibbles of the 
fchoolmen, and the idle diftindHons of fome cafuifts, as it is 
from the reveries of Pagan philosophers. It is derived from the 
holy fcriptures alone, and the Chriftian carries it always with 
him ; it is a fear in his heart; and we may truly fay of it as 
one fays of wifdom, Nothing is more clear, nothing is more ob- 
fcure — it lies hid in a corner, and it illuminates the whole 
world — It is, and it is not in folitude — it is in the crowd, and 
it is not, 

* God is glorified in the fanctification of his fervants. St 
Paul exprefles the matter fully, 1 Cor. x. 31. " Whether ye 
eat or drink, or whatfoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 
Our favourite expofitor juftly obferves, there is no action fo in- 
confiderable as not to afford the Chriftian an opportunity of ex^ 
prefling his veneration for the deity, and of promoting his own 
felicity. This is a peculiar excellence of chriftianity. The; 



( 279 ) 

2. AffliSion. Two things here muft be difcufled. 
i. The truth of the faff, that true believers are 
expofed to affli&ions in this world. 2. The reafons 
why the divine wifdom fubje&s believers to thefe 
trials. 

1. The truth of the y2z# remits from the examples 
of all the great fervants of God, who have appeared 
in the world to this day; as Noah, Abraham, Lot, 
Mofes, St Paul, and all the other apoftles of Jefus 
Ghrift. 

2. From the whole hiflory of the church, which 
was always nourifhed and increafed in afflictions. 
This may be illuftrated by the burning bufh, which 
appeared to Mofes : or by the fhip, into which 
Jefus and his apoftles went, tofTed with waves 
and expofed to the violence of winds and 
ftorms. 

3. The reafons for this difpenfation of divine pro- 
vidence may be taken from a common-place of af- 
flictions, as -f 

good man may purfue his great end not only on feftivals, and 
in public worfhip : but in the moft minute actions of common 
life. 

f Melandthon juftly obferves, that fome great readers derive 
very little benefit from much reading, for want of ufing this 
art of common-placing ; and others for want of difcernment to 
know what to extract from their authors. The latter frequent- 
ly amufe themfelves with copying flowery expreffions, pretty 
metaphors, ftriking hyperboles, and fuch like, and thus feem to 
acquire much, while they learn nothing. Indeed this method 
may ferve to refine the ftyle, perhaps to form it : but thefe are 
after-confiderations, and the firft object is the acquifition of a 
good {lock of knowledge. 

The method, which Monf. Claude here recommends, is en- 
forced by Melan&hon by the nature of the thing, and by the 
beft examples. For inftance— Suppofe this queftion to be mo- 
ved—Shall we go to war with the Turks ? It would be proper 
to transfer the hypothefis to the thefis, and to enquire firft, Is it 



( 2*0 ) 



l« By means of affli&ions God refrains our im- 
petuous pa/fionS) which in prosperity become fierce 
and intractable, whereas in adverfity they are com- 
peted and governable, like bees, which in winter 
keep clofe, but at the return of the fun iffue from 
their hives with a threatening noife; or, like ferpents, 
which feem dead during the rigours of winter, but 
revive and become dangerous, when the heat of 
fummer returns. 

2. By thefe means God exercifes our virtues, our 
faith, patience, prayer, &c. to which may be applied 
the comparifon of incenfe, which plentifully emits its 
fragrance, when caft into the fire. 

3. By afflictions God detaches us from the World; 
nothing acquaints us fo well with its vanity, no- 
thing makes its delights fo unpalatable to us as 
tafting fuch a mixture of bitternefs in them. God 
alfo by thefe means elevates us to the hope of a better 
life, which he has prepared for us : nothing gives 
us a more ardent defire after immortality than an 
experience of diftreffes, and forrows here below. Flefh 

lawful for chriftians to bear arms ? Ought magiftrates to protect 
the property of their fubjec~ts againft invaders ? &c. &c. Thus 
Cicero, in his oration for Milo, affirms, that Clodius was juft- 
ly puniflied for his facriledge, and in order to come clearly and 
fully to his point, briefly proves — that there is a God — and that 
the world is governed by him. Thus our blefled Saviour of- 
ten transferred hypothefis to thefis, as when he excufed the a- 
poftles for violating the traditions of the Pharifees, he began by 
fpeaking of traditions in general. So when Pilate's cruelty, in 
mixing the blood of the facrificers with their facrifices, was 
mentioned to him, he began to fpeak of calamities in general, 
and of repentance. Luke xiii. MelancTt,. Elem. Rhetor, lib. i. 
cap. 23. 

By hypothefis is meant the particular queftion in hand, as Is 
Rofcius guilty of parricide ? And by thefis the general que- 
ftion, as, Is parrcidean atrocious crime . p Crufi quaeft. in Me- 
lancet, in loc. 



( 281 ) 



and fpirit are in us like the two fcales of a balance, 
one rifes as the other falls, and what one lofes the o- 
ther gains. 

4. God by thefe means difplays the glory of that 
admirable providence which governs us* * Were 

* God difplays his providence. The doctrine of providence, 
or God's fuperintendence of human affairs, is evidently a doc- 
trine of natural religion explained and improved by revelation. 
The Epicureans were the only pagan philofophers who denied 
it. The Stoics held it in a fenfe outre. Some Chriftians have 
debafed it. But as it ftands in fcripture, it is adapted to dif- 
play the perfections of God in a very juft and beautiful manner, 
and to adminifter the higheft confolation to good men, while it 
is freed from all thofe abfurdities, with which fome have con- 
nected and difgraced it. 

Dr Sherlock obferves— " That there is a neceffary connection 
between the belief of a God and a providence— that there is a 
preferving and a governing providence diftinct from each o- 
ther — that God governs natural caufes, accidental caufes, mo- 
ral caufes, and that the exercife of a particular providence con- 
fifts in the government of all events. —That providence is fove- 

reign — powerful —wife— juft — holy— gt>od. That thefe are 

difplayed in the deluge — the difperfion at Babel— the call of 
Abraham— and fo on." There are many objections againft 
each pofition : but Chriftian minifters are well able to remove 
them all, by arguments taken from the word of God. Dean 
Sherlock on providence. 

Our divines never fail, having explained and eftablifhed the 
doctrine of providence, to treat of it practically. Each doc- 
trine of revelation commends itfelf to us by its mighty tenden- 
cy to moralize the believers of it, This of divine providence 
does fo. — u Providence difplays the wfidom, goodnefs, power, 
and other attributes of God; we mould therefore iludy his per- 
fections in it. — The providence of God governs us with cool 
and confummate wifdom and goodnefs ; we mould therefore 
avoid ram cenfures of it. — God governs us with uncontrolla- 
ble power; we mould not therefore attempt to refift his go- 
vernment, as if we would provoke the Lord to jealoufy, by pre- 
tending to be ftronger than he. 1 Cor. xi. 22 — God governs 
by means; we mould therefore neither tempt him, Mat. iv. by 
neglecting to ufe them, nor vainly abufe them to fuperftitious 
purpofes — God extends his providential care over the molt mi- 
nute objects; therefore we mould avoid anxious folicitude, and 
rely on him for the fupply of all our wants. Mat. vi. 24, 

N n 



( 282 ) 



all things in the world favourable to us, the pre- 
fervation of the church would be no great wonder; 
but, when it pleafes God to preferve us in the midft 
of worldly conflicts, to confirm us amidft continual 
tempefts, his infinite power and glory appear lumi- 
nous indeed, juft as they appeared in Ifrael's paffage 
through the red fea, in their prefervation in the defart, 
and in the converfation of the three children in the 
Babylonian furnace. The church is a flambeau, 
which God keeps burning in a tempeftuous air ; 
winds from all parts ftrive againft it, but inftead of 
extinguifhing they only augment its light. 

5. Afflictions are particular honours which God 
confers on us, by them enabling us to walk in the 
fteps of Jefus Chrilt, and conforming us by them 
to our divine leader. What an honour is it to be 
chofen to maintain his quarrel, * and to feal by 
our fufferings the verity and fan&ity of his gof- 
pel? 

For thefe reafons, and many more of the fame 
kind, we may fairly conclude, that with profound 
wifdom Jefus Chrift has called us to affliction, 
and joined the crofs to the profeffion of true chrifti- 
anity. ■f* 

Sec —Since in providence all initruments are to us only what 
it pleafes God to make them, we fhould take care never to fa- 
crifice to our own net. Hab. i. However prudent our plans 
may be formed, and however fuccefsfully they may be execu- 
ted — as all events depend on God, we fhould pray to him with 
fubmifiion and confidence — Since providence is the manage- 
ment of God, we mould neither be proud in profperity, nor 
diilruftful in adverfity." &c. &c Thefe are inferences of a 
good Lutheran divine. Sohnii op. torn. ii. art. 19. de provi- 
dentia. 

* c< God choofes his people to maintain his quarrel.*' It 
would found better to modern ears, to fay his controverfy. 
f " Jefus Chrift has joined the crofs to the profeffion of true 



( 283 ) 



We have before obferved, that, befide fimple 
terms, and Angular expreffions peculiar to fcripture, 
there are alfo fometimes in texts, particles, that are 
called fyncategorematica , which ferve either for the 
augmentation or limitation of the meaning of the 
propofition.* —As the word fo in John iii, 16. 
God fo loved the world — The word now in the viii. 
of Romans. There is therefore now no condemna- 
tion to them, which are in Chrift Jefus — and in 
many more paffages of the fame kind. 

Whenever you meet with thefe terms, carefully 
examine them, for fometimes the greater!: part, and 
very often the whole of the explication, depend up- 
on them, "f* as we have already remarked on that paf- 

chriflianity. ,, That affli&ions befall good men by the wife pur- 
pofe of God, is the language of reafon as well as of revelation. 

* v Particles fometimes ferve to augment the meaning of a 
propofition, and fometimes to diminilh it." See note 7. page 
65. Words of this kind are confiderable in a grammatical, an 
oratorical, and a logical point of view. Grammarians call them 
particles, and define them " words unvaried by inflexion*." Dr 
Johnfon's Dictionary. 

f " Sometimes the whole explication of a text depends on 
particles. Here follow a few examples. Micah. v. 2. " Thou 
Bethlehem Ephratah art little among the thoufands of Judah." 
Matt, ii. 6. "Thou Bethlehem art not the lead." A learned 
foreign critic reconciles this feeming contradiction by tranflat- 
ing the prophet interrogatively, « Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, 
art thou too little to be reckoned among the thoufands of Ju- 
dah?'' This reafon is equal to the EvangelinVs negative. 

Matt. iii. 7. " The Pharifees and Sadducees came to his 
baptimv, ourProfeflbr fays ? against his baptifm." The prepo- 
fition epi may be rendered againft, and the Pharifees did not 
believe John, Mat xxi. 25. nor were they baptized by him, 
Luke vii. 25. Olearii Obfervat. Sac, ad Evang. Mat. 

The connection of the particle is fometimes of great im- 
portance i( The Holy Ghoft defcended osei like a dove, and 
lighted upon Jefus," Luke iii. 22. Matt. iii. 16. Some connect 
the word like with Holy Ghoft, and imagine, that the bleffed 
fpirit affirmed the form, of a dove, others, with far greater rea- 
fon, connect it with defcended, lighted, and fuppofe that forue 

N n 2 



( 284. ) 



fage juft now mentioned, God fo loved the world: 
for the chief article in the doctrine of the love of God 
is its greatnefs, expreffed by the word fo. It is the 
fame with that other term now, there is therefore now 
no condemtiation to the?n % which are in Chrifl Jefus ; 
for the word now fhews, that it is a conclufion drawn 
from the dodtrine of j unification, which the apoftle 

luminous body firft hovered over our Lord, and then fettled on 
his head, falling on him as a dove alights on the ground. 

The precife meaning of Greek prepofitions has been very 
much litigated on the article of baptifm ; but they are fo nu- 
merous, and fo vague and indeterminate, that their meaning can 
never be afcertained except by circumftances, and particularly 
in this cafe of baptifm. To give only one example, Mat. iii» 
1 1. I baptize you with water vhto repentance, that is, fay fome, 
I fprinkle you with a few drops of water in your infancy in or- 
der to your repentance at years of maturity. The Baptifts fay, 
the words fhould be read) 1 baptize or dip you en udati in water ^ 
Eis metanoian, at, or upon (a profetfion of) repentance. The 
prepofitions are often rendered thus of neceffity, Jonah was 

three days, not with; but in the jijh's belly The Ninevites re- 

pented not unto : but at, or upon the preaching of Jonah. The cir- 
cumftances of previous preaching — confeihng fin — rivers — &c« 
confirm this fenfe of the prepofitions, in regard to baptifm 
Mat- xii. 4@, 41. 

Perhaps it may not be improper to add here, that there are 
many pafTages of fcripture, which affirm the direct, contrary of 
what they feem to affirm. A turn of fpeech, which Dr Clarke 
calls a Hebrew idiom of Jewifh propofitions. Thus, Jer. vii. 22. 
/ /pake not unto, your fathers concerning facrijices, that is, I did not 
injift fo much upon them as upon obedience to the nwral law- Hof. 
vi. 6. I defired mercy and not facrijice, that is, I defired mercy 
more than facrifice. Ezek. xx. 25. I gave them ftatutes, that 
were not good, that is, I ordained politive inftitutes, which 
were not fo beneficial as moral laws. Mat. xv. 24. I am not 
fent to the Gentiles, that is, I am not fent immediately, or fo 
foon to them as to the Jews. Rom. vi. 17. '* God be thanked, 
ye were the fervants of fin, but ye have obeyed the gofpel," that 
is, God be thanked that, although ye were finners, yet ye have 
obeyed. Ifai. viii 9. Gird yourfelves, and ye fliall be broken, 
that is, although ye gird yourfelves, yet ye {hall be broken, Eph* 
iv. 26. Be ye angry , and fin not, that is to fay, avoid finful anger, 
Dr . Sam, Clark's ferm. on government of pajfion . 



( 285 ) 

had taught in the preceding chapters, and it is as if 
he had faid, From the principles which I have efta- 
blifhed, it follows, that there is now no condemna- 
tion^ &c. Having then explained, I. What it is to be 
in Chrijl Jefus. 2. What it is to be no more fubjecT: 
to condemnation. Chiefly infift in the third place 
on the word now, and mew, that it is a doctrine, 
which neceffarily follows from what S. Paul had 
eftablilhed touching j unification in the foregoing 
chapters ; fo that this term makes a real part of the 
explication, and indeed the molt important part. 

Sometimes thefe terms in queftion are not of con- 
fequence enough to be much dwelt on : but may be 
more properly paffed with a flight remark. The 
word Behold, with which many propofitions in 
fcripture begin, muft be treated fo ; you muft not 
make one part of this, nor infift on it too long, The 
fame may be faid of that familiar expreflion of Jefus 
Chrift, Verily, Verily, which is an afleveration, or, if 
you will, an oath : but neither on this muft you in- 
fift much. So again, Amen, or fo be it, which clofes 
fume texts. Woe be to you, which Jefus Chrift often 
repeats in the gofpel, with many more of the fame 
kind. I know no certain rule- to diftinguifti when 
they are important : but it muft be left to the 
preacher's tafte ; and a little attention will make the 
neceflary difcernment very eafy. * 

* " The difcuffion of particles depends on a preacher's tafte.' 9 
« Nothing which is found charming or delightful in the polite 
world, nothing which is adopted as pleafure, or entertainment, 
of whatever kind, can any way be accounted for, fupported or 
eftabjifhed, without the pre-eftablifhment or fuppofition of a 
certain tafte. Now a tafte or judgment, 'tis fuppofed,can hardly 
come ready formed with us into the world. Whatever princi- 
ples or materials of this kind we may poffibly bring with us ; 
whatever good faculties, fenfes, or anticipating fenfationSj and 



( 286 ) 



When the matter to be explained in a text con- 
flfts of a propofttion, you muft, I. Give the feitfe 
clearly and neatly, taking care to develop it of all 
forts of ambiguity. 

imaginations, may be of nature's growth, and arife properly, of 
themfelves, without our art, promotion, or affiftance; the ge- 
neral idea which is formed of all this management, and the 
clear notion we attain of what is preferable and principal in all 
thefe fubjects of choice and eftimation, will not, as I imagine, 
by anyperfon, be taken for innate. Ufe, practice, and culture, 
muft precede the underftanding and wit of fuch an advanced fize 
and growth as this. " A legitimate and juft tafte can neither 
be begotten, made, Conceived or produced, without the antece- 
dent labour and pains of criticifm." For this reafon we pre- 
fume not only to defend the caufe of critics, but to declare open 
war againtt thofe indolent fupine authors, performers, readers, 
auditors, actors, or fpectators, who making their humour alone 
the rule of what is beautiful and agreeable, and having no account 
to give of fuch their humour or odd fancy, reject the criticizing 
or examining art, by which alone they are able to difcover the 
true beauty and worth of every object." CharaCferiftics, vol. iii. 
mifc. 3. c. 2. 

Thefe remarks of this noble writer are full of good fenfe, and 
they fall in exactly with Mr Claude's fentiments, who often re- 
fers his young pupil to himfelf. Without this well-formed tafte, 
rules are ridiculous, and even dangerous things. A man, who 
would apply them, muft have fenfe and judgment of his own to 
direct him when, where, why, how he mould ufe them. 

Motif. Le Clerc fomewhere obferves — " That a good fermon 
preferves an unity of f abject, and does not confift of an hetero- 
geneous collection of articles— and that there are in beautiful 
fermons unities of time, place, and action, as in theatrical pieces." 
There is, no doubt, a great deal of truth in thefe remarks : but 
"a bare knowledge of thefe unities, and a regular attachment to 
them, do not conftitute tafte. A very ingenious French writer 
has obferved, that thefe three unities of time, place, and action, 
which dramatical writers lay down as efTential to their compofi- 
tions, fometimes cramp and fpoil a piece, and at all times are in- 
adequate. He adds a fourth, an unity of intereft, which confilts 
in exciting and maintaining any one paffion \ as love, fear, &c : 
but, in order to preferve this unity, all the fcenes, circumftances, 
characters, events, ornaments, &c. muft be contrived ; that is to 
fay, in plain Englifh, rules are dead materials, and the innate 
genius of the architect is the power, thatchoofes, collects, fepa- 
rates, unites, arranges and exhibits the whole in one compound 



( 287 ) 



2. If it be requifite, fhew how important in reli- 
gion it is to be acquainted with the truth in hand ; 
and for this purpofe open its connection with other 
important truths ; and its dependence on them ; the 
inconveniences, that arife from negligence ; the ad- 
vantageous fuccours, which piety derives thence, 
with other things of the fame nature. * 

object, productive of one effect on the fpe£tator. See " Le$ 
Oeuvres de Theatre de Monf. De La Motte. 

* « Shew the importance of an article by difcovering its con- 
nection with other truths.'* Thus one fpeaks of circumcifion. 
From the inftitution of it to the prefent time of the baptifm of 
Chrift, it was under the precept of the law, and it was neceflary 
— from the baptifm of Chrift to the promulgation of the gofpel 
it was ufeful : but not neceflary — from the promulgation of the 
gofpel to the deftruction of the temple it was lawful : but not 
ufeful — 'after the deftru&ion of the temple it was unlawful, it 
was concifion, and not circumcifion, Phil. iii. 2, 3. " Scot in 
Lewis's Origines Hebraess, vol. ii. b. 4. ch. 7. 

" Illuftrated by inconveniences.*' Numberlefs examples might 
be adduced 5 but two fhall fuffice. " Eph. iv. 26. Be ye angry, 
and fin not, that is, avoid finful anger. The words, be ye angry, 
are not a permiflion : but they are part of a fingle propofition, 
as much as to fay, beware of finful anger. Indulge not anger, 
left ye fall into fin ; or, if at any time ye be provoked, then take 
particular care, that ye fall not into fin. For fuch is the' idiom 
of the Jewifh language, to exprefs that in two diftinct propofi- 
tions, which ought fo to be underftood, as if they were put in 
one. i.I fhall reprefent what the kind or degree of that anger 
is, which muft be charged as finful. 2. The mifchiefsand in- 
conveniences of allowing our paflion to arife to fuch a finful de- 
gree. . . It is indecent in itfelf — an indignity in a reafonable crea- 
ture — >an uneafmefs to one's-felf— an injury to others — it incapa- 
citates forjudging, &c— It refts in the bofom of a fool, Prov. 
xii. 16. — renders a man contemptible — expofes a man to danger, 
and inflicts damages, Wrath killeth, and envy flayeth, Job v. 2. 
— There is a natural excellency in the contrary practice." All 
thefe moral arguments are improved and enforced by chriftianity, 
as our preacher moft excellently obferves. u Who is angry? 
A chriftian. With whom ? A brother in Chrift. For what ? 
A carelefs word — an undeligned provocation — a difference in o- 
pinion, &c." Dr. Sam. Clark, Gov, of pafuon— preached before 
the queen. 



( 288 ) 



3. Having placed it in a clear light, and fhewn its 
importance, if it require confirmation, confirm it. * 
In all cafes endeavour to illujlrate either by reafons, 
or examples, or comparifons of the fubjects with each 
other, -f or by remarking their relation to each other, 
or by fhewing their conformities, or differences, all 

_ " Prov. xxv. 6. Put not forth thyfelf in the prefence of the 
king, and ftand not in the place of great men ; that is, do not af- 
fect the magnificence, nor elevate thyfelf to the rank of princes, 
and great men. i. We will defcribe luxury— 2. The reafons, 
why we mould avoid it. I. Luxury confifts, 1. In vain and ufe- 
lefs expences. — 2. In a parade beyond what people can afford. — 
3. In affecting to be above our own rank — 4. In living in a 
fplendour, that does not affort with the general public good. II. 
W e mould avoid it, becaufe it is ridiculous — troublefome — rui- 
nous—dangerous to monarchies, and more fo to republics. — 
(This was preached at Geneva.) — Many ftates have been fub- 
verted by it — it injures morality— excites vice, envy, pride, dif- 
fipation, divifion, &c. — It is productive of the groflefr crimes — 
leaves no room for the exercife of benevolence — is incompatible 
with the practice of Chriftianity, &c. Sermons par Ezechiel 
Gallatin, Ser. ix. fur la nat. du luxe, et fur fes dangereux effets. 

* " Place the do&rine in a clear light." Here again (kill to 
variegate is neceffary. A preacher of God's word (fays Auftin). 
muft endeavour to conciliate perfons of different fentiments, to 
excite the indolent, inftruct the ignorant, affect and convert har- 
dened finners. When the ignorant are to be instructed it is fuf- 
ficient to declare the doctrine of the church ; but when the 
doubtful are to be perfuaded, the doctrine muft be eftablifhed on 
folid proofs : and when the hardened are to be affected, the 
preacher muft make ufe of prayers, reproaches, threatnings, ex- 
hortations, and all other affecting figures. Young people mould 
therefore ftudy the precepts and rules of eloquence : but fuch 
as are advanced in years mould be content to read well-written 
books, which will infenfibly mould them into their own likenefs ; 
fuch mould not amufe tbemfelves with the precepts of an art, 
which to them can be of no great utility. Thofe, who cannot 
excel in any thing of this kind, Ihould endeavour to fill their fer- 
mons with paffages of fcripture, avoiding the obfcure and choo- 
fmg the clearer expreflions. " Auguft. de. doct. Chrift. lib. iv." 

$ " Illuftrate by comparifons." Well-executed nothing can 
be'more edifying : but nothing more offenfive than comparifons 
ill-chofen. 



( 239 ) 



with a view to illuftrate the matter, that you are dif- 
cuffing. You may alfo illuftrate a propofition by its 
confequences, by mewing how many important in - 
ferences are included in it, and flow from it. * 

You may beautify a propofition by its evidence^ 
by mewing, that the truth, of which you fpeak, is 
discoverable by the light of nature ; or by its inevi- 
deuce, oblerving that it is not difcoverable by the light 
of nature, but is a pure do£trine of revelation. *f 

* " Many proportions are fometimes included in one propo* 
fition. 2 Cor. v. 8. We are confident, I fay, and willing ra- 
ther to be abfent from the body, and to be prefent with the 
Lord."* In the words and in the context, the following particu- 
lars are plainly implied. — i. That we muft all fnortlybe abfent, 
or feparate from this body. — 2. That this ftate of feparation is 
not a ftate of ablolute infenfibility. — 3. That to good men it is a 
ftate of great happinefs, a being prefent with the Lord.— -4. The 
confederation of this intermediate happinefs is a great comfort 
and fupport againft the fear of death, " we are confident, and 
willing rather to be abfent," &c. — 5. This intermediace ftate of 
happinefs, yet is by no means equal to that happinefs, which 
good men (hall be pofTefTed of after the refurreclion. Dr. Sam. 
Clark's Serm. at the funeral of Dame Mary Cooke, 1709. 

t All thefe methods of illuft ration may be proper apart ; and 
they may alfo be properly mixed. Two examples (hall fuflice. 
" Mat. x. 16. Be ye wife as ferpents, and harmleis as doves. 
The ill confequences of the difunion of wifdom and innocence, 
and the expediencies of their conjunction will evidently appear, 
if we take a view — 1. Of the great mifchiefs, that arife from the 
want of wifdom in thofe, that are harmlefs.— 2. Of the ftill 
greater mifchiefs, that arife from the want of innocence in thofe, 
that are wife. — 3. Of the mighty advantages, that refult from our 
being at the fame time both wife as ferpents and harmlefs as 
doves. Biftiop Smalridge's Serm. bef. the Oueen, Nov. 5, 1705. 

" Mat. xvi. 18. Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I wil'l 
build my church. The text, as we call it, is part of the gofpel 
for this day ; and, according to the interpretation, which fome 
give of it, is the whole gofpel of Chiift. Thefe two words, Pe- 
ter and church, being fo comprehenfive, that, if they be well 
learnt, there needs no farther pains to come acquainted with all 
the reft of religion.— For the clearer expofition of them, I think 
it will be neceflary, 1 . To obferve the occafion, upon which they 



( 2<X) ) 

In fine, you may iliuftrafe by the perfon^ who 
propofes thefubject. By the Jlate, in which he was., 
when he propofed it ; by the peffbns, to whom it is 
propcfed ; by circumjtances of time, and place, &c. 
All thefe may give great openings : but they muft 
be judicioufly and difcreetly ufed ; for to attempt to 
make an aflemblage of all thefe in the difcuffion of 
one propofition would be trifling, endlefs, and pe~ 
dantick. * 

Sometimes one fingle propofition includes many 
truths > which it will be neceflary to diftinguifh : but 
in doing this, take care that each truth, on which you 
intend to infill, be of fome importance in religion, 
not too common, nor too much known. This your 
own good fenfe muft difcern. 

Sometimes one propofition muft be difcuffed in 
the different views, in which it may be taken ; and 
in this cafe you muft remark thofe different rela- 
tions, 't- 
were fpoken. — 2. The fenfe, in which they were anciently un- 
derftood.— 3. What inferences and deductions neeeffarily fol- 
low. Bifhop Patrick's Sermon on Saint Peter's day, 1687. 

* <( An aflemblage of mining but unconnected articles is tri- 
fling and pedantick." 

If a preacher mean to be underftood, he mould neither put 
too many mining thoughts, nor too many glittering words into 
his compofition, for both are difagreeable to auditors, and render 
the fubjecT: obfcure. 

f " Some proportions may be difcuffed in different views." 
Our author means the different views of the propofition itfelf : 
but the general truths of religion, and the virtues of particular 
men, may be very fafely, if properly, adapted to the peculiar 
view of the preacher. The virtues of Nehemiah have been en- 
forced on kings — viceroys — ambafTadors — ministers of ft ate — 
ecclefiaftical reformers — civil magiftrates— and trading compa- 
nies-— and on all with great propriety. I would fend, fays a 
divine of the laft century, — a worldling to read Ecclefiaftes— a 
devout perfon to the Pfalms— an afflicted perfon to Job— a 



t 291 ) 



Sometimes the do£trine contained in the propofi- 
tion has different, degrees \ which it will alfo be necef- 
lary to remark. 

Sometimes the propofition is general, and this ge- 
nerality ieems to make it of little importance. In 
this cafe you muft examine, whether fome of its parts 
be not more confiderable, if they be, you will be o- 
bilged to difcufs thefe parts by a particular applica- 
tion. * But I will give examples of each firft. To 
give the fenfe of a propofition neat and clear, and 
afterwards to confirm and illuftrate it, let us take 
Eph. i. 1 8. The Eyes of your under/landing being en- 
lightened^ may ye know what is the hope of his cal- 

preacher to Timothy and Titus — a back-Aider to the Hebrews — 
a legalift to Romans and Galatians — a libertine to James, Peter, 
and Jude — a man, who would ftudy providence, to Efther — and 
thofe, who go about great undertakings, to Nehemiah. This 
exemplary reformer of the Jewiih ftate fays in the text, Remem- 
ber me I O my God, for good. Let us remember, r. His care to 
obtain intelligence. — 2. His patriotifm. — 3. His difintereftednefs. 
— 4. His vigilance. — 5. His courage. — 6. His piety, &c. &c. 
Dr. Reynolds's Serm. bef. the Eaft India Company, 1657. 

Thus alfo the general virtues of religion may be adapted to 
particular bodies of men. " 1 Cor. xvi. 13. Watch ye, ftand 
faft in the faith, quit yourfelves like men, be ftrong. — 1. Watch, 
a metaphor taken from centinels, be vigilant — 2. Stand faft, 
maintain your poft. — 3. Quit yourfelves like men, fight, and 
worft your enemies, if there be occafion.— 4. Be Itrong, having 
fubduedyour enemies, keep them under. Will. Durham's Ser. 
bef. the Artillery Company, 1670. 

So alfo the general do&rines of religion may properly ferve 
particular views. " 1 Cor. xv. 58. Be yeftedfaft, unrnoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, forafmuchas ye know 
that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Here is a moral ex- 
hortation enforced by chriftian motives." Dean Freeman's Ser. 
at S. Bridget's, bef. the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Governors 
of the city Hofpitals, 1698.'' 

. * Some parts of general proportions may be applied to par- 
ticular ufes. The endlefs mifapplications of general proportions 
mould feem to deter a young minifter from purfuing this method 
too haftily. 

Oo 2 



( 232 ) 



fore, any thing extraordinary and divine appears to 
him, he neceflarily trembles. While God does not 
manifeft himfelf to him, he remains infenfible of his 
fin : but when God difcovers himfelf to him, he a- 
wakes to feeling, and draws nigh to God as a trem- 
bling criminal approaches his judge, or as a rebellious 
fubje£t fhudderingly meets the prefence of his incen- 
fed Lord. * This may be exemplified by Adam, 
who. having finned, fled, and the moment he heard 
the voice of God, hid himfelf: or by the Ifraelites, 
who were terrified, when God appeared to them up- 
on the mountain : and hence that proverbial faying 
among them, we Jhall die for we have feen God. 

3. The fhepherds had indeed juft reafon to fear, 
when they faw before them an angel of heaven fur- 
rounded with the enfigns of his majefty, for angels 

* A penitent draws nigh to God as a criminal approaches his 
judge. The firft emotions of a penitent's confcience are ufually 
excited by objects of fear •, thus Noah being moved with fear, [of 
perifhing in the deluge] prepared an ark for fafety. Heb. xi. 7. 
Our divines diftinguifh ajlavijh from a filial fear, the firft pro- 
duces a legale the laft an evangelical repentance •, and, it is allow- 
ed, the converfion of a finner often begins in the firft, although 
it cannot be complete without the laft. The divines of the church 
of Rome have long difputed thefe articles under the names 
attrition and contrition. By attrition they mean that grief for fin, 
which arifeth from fear of piwijhment ; and that forrow for fin, 
which arifeth from a dejtre to pleafe God, they call contrition. 
Some affirm, contrition is ejjbitial to falvation ; others make at- 
trition fufficient : but this laft feems a grofs error ; for if at- 
trition alone be fufficient to falvation, a man, who daes not love 
God may be faved. The divines of this church c2nnot agree 
whether the council of Trent have decided this controverfy; 
it (hould feem the council hath not determined it -, and, it is 
certain, that for half a century the greateft number of popular 
divines were attritionifts. A very learned writer afcribes their 
error to their negligence of the ftudy of fcripture — to their 
mijlaking fome paflages in the council of Trent — to their ridi- 
culous attachment to fome leading men, whom they took for 
•racks— and to other fimilar caufes. Oeuvres de Motif De Launoi. 



( 233 ) 



had formerly been the mlniflers of God's vengeance^ 
the executioners of his judgments upon men. They 
knew, that an angel with a flaming fword had been 
placed at the gate of paradife for ever to prohibit the 
re-entrance of the firft finner. They had heard of 
thofe angels, who fcattered fire from heaven over the 
five cities of the plain, and reduced them to afhes. 
They had heard what one angel did in Egypt, when 
he flew the firft-born ; and what another performed 
in Senacherib's army, in one night flaying one hun- 
dred and fourfcore thoufand «ien. Was it ftrange 
then that they were fore afraid ? On this occafion 
thefe fad examples of the divine vengeance executed 
by angels might in a moment arife to view^ and incline 
them to apprehend, that this angel had received a like 
order to deftroy them. * 

But, as the thoughts of God are far different from 

* The fhepherds knew thofe fad examples of divine vengeance 
recorded in fcripture. Our author fuppofes in all this, that the 
Jewifh laity had free accefs to fcripture ; and that they had alfo 
a right of private judgment in regard to the meaning of it. 
Some Roman catholic writers have pretended, in order to give 
their denial of fcripture to the laity a fancVimonious air* that 
the Jewifh fcriptures were not read by the laity. Julius Barto- 
locciusy Hebrew profeffor at Rome, has done this : but he and 
all others have been fully anfwered by Bifhop U/Jjer, and by 
his continuator Wharton. They have proved, that there were 
many tranllations of the fcriptures before the time of Chrift, 
and that the Jews were extremely tenacious of teaching them to 
their children, fervants, and profelytes. Hift. Dogmat. de fcript. 
et Jac. vernaculis Ujftri. Ed. Hen. Wharton, cap. i. 

One would fuppofe, the laity have as much right to ftudy 
theology as the clergy have to ftudy mathematics ; and, certain 
it is, theology is much indebted to fuch men as Locke, Newton, 
Grotius, tieinJiuSy Cafaubcn y Vatablus> Dru/ius, Selden, Scaliger, 
and other laymen. Was not our noble Alexandrian manufcxipt 
written by Thecla, an Egyptian lady? Did not a woman inflrutl: 
Apollos ? Was not the greater part of holy fcripture written by 
ivomcn and laymen? And, to fay all in one word, was the founder 
of our holv religion a clergyman ? 

g g 



{ 294 ) 



truths of his word, thereby enabling us to judge of 
them, to love and follow them, and to make them the 
rules of our conduct; * 

The propofition, thus explained, muft be prov- 
ed. This may be done directly, or indirectly; 
indireclly by producing divers paffages of fcripture, 
which reprefent the greatnefs of natural depravity, 
and the inability of man to convert himfelf. Such 
paffages are very numerous, as where the heart is 

called an heart of Jlone. f Where the prophet 

afks, Can the Ethiopian change his Jkin^ or the leo- 
pard his fpotsf then may ye alfo do good that are ac- 
cuftomed to do evil % A direcl confirmation con- 
fifts of paffages in which our converfion is formally 

* The truths of religion are rules of conduct; Some di- 
vines, zealous for the peculiar doctrines of religion, hold the 
eyes of their auditors in perpetual fpeculation, while others, to 
avoid this method, do nothing but lay down rules of action* 
Our belt divines unite both. Xhey neither turn all religion in- 
to difpute,with the firil, nor fink into the dulnefs of meremoralilts 
with the laft; but, confidering all doctrinal divinity as tending to 
practice, and all practice as founded on principle, they prove 
each doctrine, and apply it to the tempers of the heart, and the 
deportment of the life. The fcriptures teach practical divinity 
in this way. — " God loved us — If God fo loved us, we ought 
alfo to love one another. Thus doctrines become experimen- 
tal and practical. Vid. Joan. Gerhardi fchola pietatis. Jo. 

Hen. Maii Synopfis theologize moralis. — Joach. Juft. Breithaup- 
ti Inftitut. theolog. 

\ Heart of ltone. Ezek. xxxvi. 26. An infenfible heart, a mind 
that has not profited by its former millakes. 

% Accuftomed to do evil. Jer. xiii. 23. Mr Cruden feems 
to give the true fenfe of this paffage, " Can the leopard change 
his fpots, &c. It is as much labour in vain to endeavour to 
reclaim thefe Jews, who, by their continued cuftomary finning, 
have inured themfelves to wicked practices, as to ufe means to 
take out the natural fpots of the leopard." Cruden's Concordance 
under the word Leopard. 

Accuftomed to do evil. The prophet fpcaks here not of natu- 
ral, but acquired defilements. 



( 295 ) 



afcribed to God, and to the efficacy of his fpirit, 
which are alfo very numerous. * 

While you are conforming this propofition by 
fcripture, you may mix an illujlration of it by rea- 
foning, by (hewing that our attachments to the world 
are lb many and fo ftrong, that fupernatural grace is 
abfolutely neceffary to diffolve them ; that the ob- 
fcurities of our minds arifing either from our preju- 
dices, or paffions, or old habits, or the colours, un- 
der which the gofpel firft prefents itfelf to us, are fuch 

* Confirm a propofition by producing divers paffages of fcrip- 
ture. A minifter muft attend to the nature and the number 
of texts brought in confirmation of a propofition. As to their 
nature, they ought to be paffages, which are allowed on both 
fides to fpeak of the fubject. This, however, is a very general 
rule, and fubject to many exceptions. As to the number, two, 
or three, properly chofen, and aptly applied, are generally ac- 
counted fufEcient, and preferable to a numerous collection. 
Our old divines, who abounded in reading, common-placing, 
difputing, and defending, often difcovered a great want of judg- 
ment in arguing, by aiming to throw an inundation of anfwers 
over their opponents arguments. They never knew when to 
leave off. They thought the more good things the better. 
Sanders proved by forty arguments, that the pope was not An- 
tichrift ; and Whitaker proved by forty arguments, that the 
pope was Antichrift. A modern divine could put thirty-feven 
of them into a corps de referve, and rout the pontifical army, 
if not abfolutely deftroy it with three. Ignorance in doctrine, 
fuperftition in worfhip, and perfecution, in temper are full 
proofs of Antichrift. 

The excellent Vitringa lays down four rules of preaching 
on all doctrinal texts, i. State the doctrine clearly. 2 Prove 
and illuftrate it by parallel texts, and. if pofiible, by reafoningo 

3. Vindicate it, if you think any of your auditors deny it. 

4. Bring it home to the heart. Op. torn. ii. Method. Homil. 
cap. vi. 

In order to apply the fecond rule a divine muft be a good 
textuary, well verfed in fcripture, and furnifhed with the fk.il! 
of feletling and applying quotations from it properly. This apodixis 
bibiicci) as our divines call it, well managed, forces the affent of 
the mind as fully as the molt evident mathematical demonft ra- 
tions. 



( 296 } 



as render it impoffible for us to judge rightly. This 
may be particularly inferted in the indirecl way. 

In the direcl way you may alfo mix reafoning, by 
fhewing, that the divine wifdom determines, our re- 
generation mould be all heavenly — that neither flefh, 
nor blood, nor natural principles contribute any 
thing — that the new man, being the pure work of 
the holy fpirit, renders us more conformable to Je- 
ms Chrift, for, according to S. Paul, God has prcdef- 
tlnated us to be conformed to the image of his fon. * 
When Jefus Chrift came into the world he came not 
in the ordinary natural way : but by a law above all 
laws in the world. He was made of a virgin, -\ 
formed by the power of the Holy Ghoft: God de- 
clares, that chriftians are bom, not of bloody nor of 
the will of the fefh^nor of the will of man, but of him- 
felf; and on this account they are emphatically 
ftyled the children of God, and the brethren of 
Chrift. % 

* " Predeftinated to be conformed to the image of Chrift. 1 " 
Rom. viii. 26. Predeflinarian divines often quote this paflage 
to prove, that neither did S. Paul, nor cft> they, oppofe abfolute 
predeftination againft good works; but only againft the merit of 
them. 

f " Jefus Chrift was made of a virgin." Mr Claude's words 
ate, De quelle matiere a-t-il ete tire ? D une matiere imprcpreet 
contraire meme a la naiffance, de la fubftance d'une vierge. The 
reafon for tranjlating without the original circumlocution is 
plain . 

Our author obferved before, that on articles of this 
kind, chaftity Jhould weigh the Language. Exprefiions, that are fa- 
miliar, and proper enough in a foreign language, would found 
harfti in a literal tranflation. I have therefore endeavoured to 
give Mr Claude's meaning without tranflating his tour of ex- 
preflion. 

\ lllujlratehy reafoning " 1 John iL 3 4. Hereby we do know, 
that we know him, if we keep his commandments, &c." Book- 
ifh chriftians think their knowledge complete, and that they 
cannot pofftbly mifs the way to heaven ; for they have many 
large volumes and difcourfes concerning Chiift, thoufands o^ 



/ 



( 297 ) 



In confirming this proportion you may aifo illu- 
ftrate it by fome examples , as by that of the convert- 
ed thief— that of S. Paul — that of the Jews, convert- 
ed on the day of Pentecoft, at the preaching of S. 
Peter, &c. In fhort, by any examples, in which 
the power of grace remarkably fhone in conver- 
fion. * 

Thefubjedt may be illuftrated hj comparing con* 
verfion with the almighty work of God in creating 
the univerfe, and you may remark in a few words 
their conformities and differences, f 

controverfies difcutTed, infinite problems determined concern- 
ing his divinity, humanity, union of both together, and what 
not ? If the knowledge of thefe be all, religion is nothing but a 
iittle book-crafty a mere paper-JkilL But if S. John's rule here be 
good, we mult not judge of our knowing Chrift by our Ikill in 
books and papers : but by our keeping of his commandments. 
— Obferve i. The conformity of our lives to the will of Chrift * 
rs the beft character of our future condition. — 2. The know- 
ledge of Chrift doth not confift in a few barren notions, and 
faplefs opinions. ^-3. The great defign of the gofpel was not to 
give the world an indulgence to fin." Dr CudwortUs ferm, bef % 
Commons^ 1647. 

* Illufirate by examples. That excellent fermon, at the funeral 
of the Rev. Mr John Corbet, preached by Mr Baxter, chiefly 
runs on this method of illuftrating. The text is " 2 Cor. xii. the 
firft 9 verfes. — Obferve 1. It is no new thing for the wifeft and 
holieft of Chrift's minifters to be accufed even by teachers of 
chriftianity — 2. Glorying is in itfelf an inexpedient thing. — 3^ 
That, which is fo inexpedient, may on juft occafions become 
good, and a duty. — 4. Divine revelations, acquainting the fou! 
with heaven, are matters mo ft worthy of lawful, humble, mo- 
deft glorying. — 5. There is a third heaven and heavenly paradife 5 
where are the concerns and hopes of holy fouls, &c. &c.'^ 
All thefe were exemplified in S. Paul, and the incomparable 
Baxter made a proper application of them. 

* Illufirate by comparifon, " 2 Pet. i. 15. I will endeavour that 
ye may be able after my deceafe, to have thefe things always 
in remembrance.''-— Death is here called a deceafe, in the 
Greek it is exodos, an exodus a departure, a going away— Here 
ie an allufion to the going of Ifrael out of Egypt. Hence we ob- 
ferve, that there is a lively refemblance between the exodus o£ 



{ 238 ) 



You may illuftrate by its confequences ^ fhewing 
the greatnefs and importance of the change wrought 
in men, when God opens the eyes of their under- 
ftandings. * 

departure of Ifrael out of Egypt, arid the exodus or departure of 
a faint out of this life- — The Ifraelites went from a Jirange land, 
a land not their own. From much employment, and great cffliBion, 
From a profane country — They went through the red fea, 
&e, — They went to the land of Promife. To a holy country of 
their own* To a pleafant, and plentiful land, &c." Serm. on the 
death of Dr Lazarus Seaman, by Will Jenkyn, 1675. 

* lllujlrate by confequences. Confequences ought to be fair, 
clear, natural, neceflary, and rather to offer themfelves than fol- 
low the invention of the preacher. AH the vile confequences 
which fuch tkebrafids as Sacheverell, Milbottrne, and others, draw 
from their texts, are unparallelled infults on reafon and fenfe, 
and unpardonable libels on chriftianity itfelf. — S. Paul was in 
perils among falfe brethren at Corinth. It follows that " Britifli, 
monarchy and epifcopacy are endangered by the acl: of toleration? 
Sach. Serm. at S Paul's, Nov. 5, 1709. 

" Ifai. xiv. 21, 22. Prepare flaughter for the fons and ne- 
phews of the king of Babylon for the iniquity of their fathers.'" 
Confequently—" I. The Prefbyterians were ufurpers and rebels, 

and murdered Charles I. and did fo, facrilegious rake-hells 

as they were! when the nation enjoyed religion in apoflolical purity 
■ — law with juft liberty— and eftates and fortunes with inviolable 
fecurity.' 1 Confequently, " 2. It is juft to look upon the children 
of Prefbyterians as infatnous, and to make them fufrer for the 
iniquities of their fathers." And then confequently, " In the 
third place, fuch juftice is executed upon thepofterity of rebels 
for lawful ends and defigns." Luke Melbourne's Serm. on Jan* 
30th, 1708, at S. Ethelburg's 

Here follows, I think, a juft and beautiful example of Mr. 
Claude's rule. " Pfal cxii. 9. His righteoufnefs endureth for e- 

ver, his horn (hall be exalted with honour My text teacheth 

us that the charitable perfon is both a doer of lajting good, and 
that he is entitled to lofting honour. Thefe are fo far from being 
inconfiftent with each other, that the one is alfnoft a neceflary 
conjequeni of the other. To this purpofe I fliall at prefent treat 
of the relative engagements between anceftry and posterity, and 
{hew what the one is capable of doing, and how far obliged to 
do it for the other : that the former may, and is, in many cafes, 
bound to provide for the future happinefs of the latter : whofe 
duty it is, in return, to exprefs a juit gratitude for fuch provi- 
sion, by honouring the memories, extolling the good actions, and 



( 299 ) 



The iiluftration may flow from inevidence, by 
mewing, that Jefus Chrift only has taught men this 
truth, that converiion is of God. * All falfe reli- 
gions attribute this work to man himfelf ; philolbphy 
is not acquainted with this grace from on high, f 

rightly employing the advantages procured for them by the care 
and bounty of their anceitors." Relat. Engagem. bet. anceftry 
and potter. Serm. in King's Chapel, Camb. 1707, in comment 
of Henry Vi. the founder, by Dr Snape. 

* Illuftrate by inevidence, that is, by obfcurity, and defect of e- 
vidence, Prov. xxvii. 1. Boaft not thylelf of to morrow-, for 
thou knoweft not what a day may bring forth.— James iv. Ye 
fay, To-day, or to-morrow we will go into fuch a city, and con- 
tinue there a year, and buy and fell, and get gain. Ye ought to 
fay, If the Lord will, we (hall live and do this and that, becaufe 
ye know not what fhall be on the morrow. — Luke xii. 4c Be 
ye therefore ready, becaufe the Son of man cometh at an hour, 
when ye think not.— Jonah iii. The decree of the king and his 

nobles publifhed. -Let neither man nor beaft tafte any thing ; 

yea let us turn every one from his evil way. Who can tell whe- 
ther God will turn and repent ? — Some dodrines are very ob- 
fcurely revealed in fcripture : therefore the belief of them is not 
effential to falvation. Chrift faid his kingdom was not of thi$ 
world : therefore a fecular frame of church-government is not a 
part of Chrift's kingdom. The arguments in all thefe run on a 
want of evidence. 

f " Philofophy was unacquainted with conversion" 

* 1. The ancient philofophers ideas of natural religion were 
never afTembled into one body of doctrine. One philofopher 
had one idea, a fecond another. Who does not fee the pre-emi- 
nence of Revelation on this article ? 2. The Pagan philofophers 
never had a fyftem of natural religion comparable to that, which 
thofe modern philofophers have, who glory in contemning reve- 
lation. From that very revelation, which thefe philofophers af- 
fect to defpife, they have extracted the beft and cleareft part of 
their fyftem. It was the gofpel, which taught men the ufe of 
their reafon, Philofophy has availed herfelf of this fuccour, and 
afcribed the invention to herfelf. 3. The heathen philoipphers 
mixed their cleareft truths with dreams and chimeras. (See 
Cksdenat. deor. lib. i.) 4. What was pure among the heathens 
in natural religion, was not known to many, it could not be 
known to any except philofophers. The common people could 
not penetrate through the clouds, with which truth was cover- 
ed, there wanted a fyort, plain, popular way 5 the gofpel is 



( 300 ) 

Finally, you may illuftrate the fubject by the per- 
fon who propofes it> who is St Paul. He had -felt 
all its efficacy, fathomed, as it were all its depth, 
and confequently could well fpeak of it. Or by 
the perfons to whom it was addreffed^ the Ephefians, 
who had been reclaimed from the greateft fuperfti- 
tion, that was among the Pagans, that is to fay, the 
worfhip of Diana. * 

The manner, in which St Paul propofes this truth, 
muft not be forgotten, it is in the form of a wijh or 
prayer. May God give yon an illumination of the 
eyes of your under/landing ! Which fhews the ne- 
ceffity and importance of grace, without which all 
the other mercies of God would be rather hurtful 
than profitably, -f 

fuch a way.'- Saurin. Sur les avantages de la revelation, torn. 
3, See thefe more at large in Turretin. 

* Illujlrate by perfons. No method prevails more with fome 
preachers than that of dividing their texts into the three parts of 
the perfon fpeaking — the perfons fpo&en to, and the fubject fpo- 
ken. But this is a puerile way of divifion, and obliges the 
preacher to fpeak the fame things over, and over, and over a- 
gain, Mr Claude's is a ruie of illuftratipn, not of divifion, al- 
though fome times, it muft be allowed, the perfons in a text are 
fo important, as to juftify a divifipn by them: but this happens 
very feldom. 

Here follows an example of M? Claude's rule. Mat. xix. 16. 
** One came, and faid unto him, Good mailer, what good thing 
iliall I do, that I may have eternal life ? ... This perfon chole a 
moft proper fubjeft — offered a queftion upon it with hncerity 

and fubmiflion — and addrefl'ed it to the proper perfpm The 

enquirer was a young man — a rich man — a magistrate — a 
moral man — yet a worldly minded man. Dr White Kennet's 
Spittal Serm. at St Bride's, 171 2. 

There are two incomparably beautiful fermons of I)r Watt's, 
on the above text, entitled The hopeful youth falling JJjort of Hea- 
ven, in which the fubject. is inimitably illuftrated by perfons. 

f" Illuftrate by £he manner of the writer.''. All the various 
forms, in which the apoitles, fuppofe, propofed the gofpel to 



C 301 ) 



You may alfo remark the clrcumjlances of time 
and place ; for St Paul wrote this epiftle, when he 
was in prifon at Rome, when he was loaded with 
chains, and when the gofpel was every where per- 
fected. * Under fuch forbidding circumftances, 

mankind, afford topics of illuftration. Sometimes St Paul " wit- 
neffed to all both fmall and great." A£ts xxvi. 20. 22. And 
at other times he « preached privately to perfonsof reputation.*' 
Gal. ii. 2, Sometimes he " anfwered for himfelf chearfully.'* 
Acts xxiv. 10. And at other times he " declared the teftimony 
of Gcd in weaknefs, and in fear, and in much trembling." 1 
Gor. ii, 3 . Some of his expreflions are argumentative — fome 
gratulatory— fome benedictory — fome in the form of a prayer 
— a wifh— a cenfure, and fo on. Each of thefe may be proper- 
ly applied to illuftrate. 

* Illuftrate by circumftances of time— place— Sec. " The mini- 
Her in his preaching ferves himfelf of the judgments of God, aa 
of thofe ancient times, fo efpecially of the late ones, and thofe 
mod, which are neareft to his pari{h ; for people are very at- 
tentive at fuch difcourfes, and think it behoves them to be fo, 
when God is fo near them, and even over their heads.'* Her- 
bert's country parfon, ch. vii. 

This is prefixed to a fermon of Br Afanningham% preached 
in St Andrew's, Holbourne, on the late ftorm, 1703. From 
Ifai. xxvi. 9. On this general principle our divines adapt their 
fermons to all forts of circumftances, times, and places. The 
icripture affords a rich variety of fubje&s " profitable for doc- 
trine— reproof— correction— and inftruction— that the man of 
God may be perfect:, thoroughly furnilhed unto all good works." 
The chief difficulty lies in making an apt choice, yet even an 
impropriety here will be forgiven, where the evident aim of the 
preacher is to produce the moral good of his hearers. On the 
contrary, where an ecclefiaftical trumpeter of fedition " foweth 
difcord among brethren," however exact his conformity to cir- 
cumftances may be, he ought to be drummed out of the regi- 
ment •, and if he warp the holy fcriptures to ferve his bafe pur- 
pofe, he deferves, at leaft, a literary lafh for his crime- The 
people of pleafure at Bath, affigned the government of the king- 
dom of amufements, not to a clergyman : but to a Nafh. How- 
ever, every body will forgive, and many will applaud a worthy 
rector of Witterlham in Kent, for preaching a fermon at Tun- 
bridge Wells, entitled The regulation of play, from Prov. x. 23. 
< s It is a fport to a fool to do mifchief : but a man of underftand- 
ing hath wifdom." For it is a good difcourfe, and calculated 
for the benefit of Tunbridge. By Theoph. Dorington, 1706* 



( 302 } 

the holy Ghoft mufl needs dtfplay a mighty power 
in converfion. * 

A proper afTortment of texts and titles of fermons, with times^ 
places, and circumftances, in which they were preached, carries 
conviction along with it, while a heterogeneous affbciation ex- 
cites prejudices, rifibility, fufpicion and indignation in the rea- 
ders of them. Text, titles, times, and places, are often fevere 
fatires on one another, and it is not a fufficient excufe, that the 
preacher twifts his fubjecl: till he brings all right at lait ; for in- 
accuracy, if not ignorance, or duplicity, is on the face of the per- 
formance. Here follow a few examples. 

Mr Sclater preached a fermon ad clerum at Cambridge, 1653, 
from 1 Cor. xi. 10. There muft be alfo hereftes among you.— 
What ! herefies among a clergy fworn to orthodox uniformity ! 
Have you ruined fo many thoufands of your fellow-chriftians 
for the eftablifhment of penal fanclions, which after all do not 
anfwer the only end, for which you pretended to appoint 
them! 

Dr Kennett preached before the convocation in 17 10, from 
John xiv. 27. Peace I leave with you. Peace left with an epif- 
ctyal Synod! Alas ! how many have found to their forrow creeds 
and canons, and other inftruments of cruelty in the habitations 
of thefe fons of Levi 1 If the text were intended for a hiftory 
of the paft, it was a bold falfehood — if for a defcription of the 
prefent, it was an impofition. Were the Englim clergy in peace 
in 1710 ? — However, it may pafs as a prophecy, for this vener- 
able body fell afleep foon after, and have lain ftill ever fince. 
Peace be with them ! 

Dr Blackhall publifhed a fermon, preached 1 704, entitled 
The LAwfuInefs of keeping Chriftmas, and other feftivals, and 
unluckily pitched on a text, that not only fays nothing about 
Chriftmas: but actually condemns other feltrvals. Wo unto 
them, that not conlidering the work of the Lord, rife up early in 
the morning to follow itrong drink, and have the harp, and 
the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine in their feafts, Ifa. v. 11, 
12. Had the prophet uttered thefe words among us on a Chrift- 
mas day, they would have been pi£turefque and proper ; but 
for a chriftian divine to quote them as law is aftonifhing ! 

Sir William Dawes was a great and good court preacher : but 
his choice was odd, when he preached three fucceffive years 
1699, 17005 1 701, before king William on Hell torments, from 
Mat. xxv. 41. The fTrft fermon in Jan. 1701, is entitled the 
eternity of hell-torments — the fecond the true meaning of the 
eternity of hell torments— the third the objections againft the 



( 503 ) 



Secondly^ to give an example of proportions, in* 
eluding divers truths which muft be diftinguiflied 

eternity of hell-torments. His majefty did not afplre, like 
James I. at the glory of underftanding religion fyftematicaiiy. 
The fame gentleman had the courage to preach before the queen 
at St James's, Ije6, from Prov, x. 19. "In the multitude of 
words there wanfeth not fin : but he, that refraineth his lips, is 
wife and to publifh the fermon under the title, 4< The danger 
of talking much, and wifdom of the contrary." Whether this 
were a cenfure of the queen, who was fometimes very chatty, 
or a compliment to others at court, who were very referved, I 
know not. 

Mr Cannell publifhed a Sermon 1708, entitled The cafe of 
the pretender ftated, from 1 Kings i. " Adonijah the foil of 
Haggith faid, I will be king.'* But how does the claim of a le- 
gitimate fon of a reigning king ftate the cafe of one, whom the 
preacher himfelf calls a flam-bom impofture prince, the pretended 
fon of a fugitive tyrant, who had abdicated the throne ? 

Mr Claude does not fpeak, in this rule, of times, places, &c» 
in this view : but his rule needs no elucidation, and thefe re- 
marks perhaps may be not altogether impertinent here. Thofe 
divines, who have written on thefe fubje&s, arrange thefe arti- 
cles under what they call adjunctive arguments, that is, articles 
adherent to a fubjecl:, though not efTential to it. By this me- 
thod St Peter proved, the apoftles were not drunken, for it waft 
but the third hour of the day. Acts ii. 1 5. 

* Out of thefe various methods of illuftration Mr Claude 
would have the preacher choofe the moft proper and not attempt to 
croud all into one fermon. 

All the old rhetoricians guarded their pupils againft this lux- 
uriance, Ariftotle diftinguiiries common and remote topics 
from near, apt, and proper ones. How improper, fays he, would 
it be to celebrate the praife of Achilles, by declaring that he 
was a man — a hero— and went to the fiege of Troy? — thefe 
were common to all the army. — Achilles mould be praifed for 
performing thofe actions, which were peculiar to himfelf. Rhet* 
lib. ii. cap. 21. Tully follows him, de orator e. 3. Quintilian 
does the fame, and fays, prudence without learning does more 
on this article than learning without prudence. Inlt. lib. ii, cap. 
i. vi. 6. 

Chriftians have inculcated the fame. Erafm. de Concionand. 
rat. lib. i. Matthias de rat. Concion. and many more : but none 
fpeak more fully than Ludovicus Vives. " Chriftian preachers 
fucceeded the ancient Pagan orators : but in a very difiimilar 
manner. As far as we excel them in fubje&s, fo far are we in- 
ferior to them in a proper manner oi difcuffing them.'' 



( SOS ) 



from each other. We cannot choofe a more proper 
text than the remaining part of the paffage, which 
was juft now 7 explained, That you may know, fays 
St Paul, what is the hope of his callings and what 
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the faints. 
The apoftle's propofition is, That by the illumination 
of grace, we underftand the innumerable bleffings, 
to the enjoyment of which God calls us by his goi- 
pel. Now this propofition includes many truths, 
which it will be neceffary to diftinguifli. * 

* "Some proportions contains divers proportions, which muft 
be diftinguillied from each other." Some of our divines lay out 
their matter in propofitional form. a Pfal i 23. Whofo of- 
fereth praife, glorifies me ; and to him that ordereth his con- 

verfation aright, will I (hew the falvation of God In thefe 

words we may obferve four things, 1 . That God is to be glo- 
rified or honoured in all our actions. He glorifies me — 1. That, 
more particularly, upon occafion of any great mercy, any re- 
markable bleffing, or fignal interpofition of providence on our 
behalf, we ought to fhew forth his glory by the moft public 
acknowledgments, by the heartieft praifes and thankfgivings to 
him. Whofo offereth praife glorifies me. 3. That he who will 
return thanks to God acceptably for paft mercies, fo as to glo- 
rify him indeed, muft for the future live fuitably to that profef- 
{ion he pretends to make of his fenfe of God s providence go- 
verning the world, and of his entire dependence upon it. To 
him that ordereth his converfation aright. — 4. That to them who 
thus order their converfation aright, here is a promife added 
of yet farther bleffings. I will (hew them the falvation of God.' ? 
Dr Sam. Clark, bef . the Houfe of Commons, on a thankfgiving 
day, 1709. _. 

Others retain the thing without the form, " 2 Tim iii 3. 

Defpifers of them that are good We have three things to 

confider, — 1 . That honour and reveience which is due to good 
men, — 2. That contempt, which they do really meet with — 
3. The heinous injuftice and impiety of all fuch contempt." 
Thefe are propofitions contained in the text, and exprefled 
without fcholaitick form. They would in this form run thus. 

1. Honour is due to good men. 2. Good men ufually meet 

with contempt. — 3. It is unjuft and impious to contemn good 
men. Norris's practical difcourfes, vol. 3. ferm. 6. 



( 305 ) 



I. That the gofpel is a divine vocation, a loud 
voice, which cries, Awake thou, that JleepeJ}, arife 
from the dead, and Chrift Jhall give thee light. 
Therefore it is faid in the fiftieth pfalm. The Lord 
hath called the earth, from the rifing of the fun, to 
the going down thereof The church is not a rafh 
tumultuous affembly, produced by hazard, as many 
focieties feem to be. It is not an human fociety, 
which reafon and natural interefts have affociated. 
It is a fociety, that has God for its author, for it is 
his word which calls, and his command that aflem- 
blesus. % 

Others again without any formal divifion at all, deduce 
from a text one general proportion, and compofe the reft of the 
fermon of propolitions included in that, which they firft laid 
down. " Luke xxii. 36. He that hath no fword, let him fell 
his garment and buy one. . . Prefently after, Chrift faid, Put 
up thy fword. He that taketh the fword, (hall perifh by the 
fword. If we examine the circumftances of thefe two texts, 
both together may teach us the whole chriftian doctrine of war 8 
what ufe of fecular arms the gofpel permits, what it condemns, 
. . . Notwithstanding the evangelical precepts of meeknefs, 
patience, forgiving, bleffing, and praying for enemies, ftill the 
warlike furniture, and ufe of juft arms, is in all ages of chrifti- 
anity lawful, in fome exigencies a duty more incumbent than 
the very arts of peace, &c. &c.'' Propolitions to confirm this 
doclrine make up the reft of the fermon, and had the preacher 
(but he was a Lord Bifhop, and taught paflive obedience on 
pain of damnation.) confined the ufe of the fword to civil mat- 
ters, the matter of his difcourfe would have been as unexcep= 
tionable as the manner of it. Sprat, Bp. of Rochefter, bef. 
Artillery Company, 1682. 

* Chriftians are ajfembled by God's command. It is pleafant 
enough to fee the dexterity of fome violent paflive obedience 
men. When it fuits their intereft, and they are uppermoftj 
Let every foul be fubjecl: unto the higher powers, thev that re- 
fill fhall receive damnation. When the Papifts or PrefoySrerians 
get into the faddle, then We ought to obey God rather than 
men. The artful Atterbury pleaded for the one, and provided 
for the other, in the fame fermon, as General, afterwards Lord 
Stanhope, obferved in parliament. This bifliop has had too 
many difciples. Our beft divines explain both thefe forts of 

Qq 



( S06 ) 



2. It is a vocation wherein God propofes fome- * 
thing to our hope, for which reafon we are faid to 
be begotten again to a lively hope* This may be 
difcuffed either in oppofition to a -vocation of fimple 
authority, where we are called to fervice without a- 
ny recompenfe propofed ; thus princes frequently 
command their fubje&s ; or in oppofition to a fe- 
duclion to fin, which punifhes our fervices with death, 
The wages of fin is death fays S. Paul. Thefe words 
reprefent Sin as a tyrant, who calls us to ©bey him 
in order to deftroy us. Or it may be confidered in 
oppofition to our natural birth, which introduces us 
to a fcene of numberlefs diftreffes and miferies. All 
thefe vocations are either uncomfortable, or hopelefs, 
or dangerous, and tending to defpair : but the call 
of the gofpel is a call to hope, not like Adam's, when 
God called him to be judged and condemned ; A- 
dam where art thou ? but like Abraham's, when the 
Lord faid to him, Get the out of thy country, and 
from thy kindred, and I will give thee the land whi- 
ther thou goejl ; not like that, which Ifaiah addreffed 
to Hezekiah, Set thine hoi/fe in order, for thou fhalt 
die : but like that, which Jefus founded to Lazarus, 
Lazarus come forth* 

3. That this call propofes to our hope an inheri- 
tance, not a recompenfe proportioned to our merit : 
but a good, which God as a father beftows on us in 
virtue of adopting grace ; a good which we have by 

texts by laying it down as a rule, that chriftians ought to fubmk 
to civil governors in all things, not incompatible with their duty to 
God. Mr Claude has affigned the reafon above. No inferior 
governors can fuperfede the authority of God. See Bayle. At- 
terbury, M. JVL 

* A lively hope, in oppofition to that expectation of fuccefs* 
which animates a bad man in his purfuits, and which fooner or 
later is always difappointed. 



{ 307 ) 



communion with Jefus Chrift, for we are heirs of 
God, only as we are joint-heirs of Jefus Chrift. Far- 
ther, this is an inalienable inheritance, which we our- 
felves can never lofe, and of which no other can de- 
prive us. The ancient Jewifh inheritance could ne- 
ver pafs from families into foreign hands. This is 
an inheritance, in fine, in oppofition to that felicity, 
which God gave Adam as a hireling, under the title 
of wages, and not as a fon, under the title of inheri- 
tance. 

4. That this is a heavenly inheritance, (for fo 
mult the laft word faints be underftood- — dn fanclis^ 
in holy or heavenly places.) The apoftle intends not 
only to point out the nature of divine -bleflings, 
which are fpiritual and heavenly : but to fignify the 

*filace, where we mall pofiefs them, heaven the man- 
fion of the majefty of God.* 

5. That theft are bleflings of an infinite abundance, 
of an inexprejjibk value, for this is the meaning of 
thefe terms, The riches of the glory of his inheri- 
tance , a way of fpeaking proper to the Hebrews, 
who, to exprefs the grandeur or excellence of a thing, 
heap many fynonimous expreffions on each other. 
Thus the apoftle to reprefent to the Corinthians this 
fame felicity, of which he fpeaks here, calls it A 
weight of glory excellently excellent. And in this 
chapter, a little after our text, he fpeaks of the exceed- 
ing greatnefs of his power, the working of his mighty 
power. Here then the riches of the glory of his 
inheritance, fignifies the value, the excellence, the 

* Riches of his inheritance in the faints. En tois agiois. In 
fanctis. The term is ufually taken for the inhabitants ; Mr 
Claude takes it for the habitation. Perhaps this fenfe of the 
word may be juftified from its ufe in Hebrews, ix. 12. where Chrift 

is faid to enter eis ta agta into the holies alluding no doubt, 

to the temple-partitions at Jerufalem. 



( 308 ) 

abundance, the plentitude of this inheri- 
tance 

6. The apoftle would have us know the admi- 
rable greatnefs of this hope, for all our deviations 
from virtue, and attachments to the world arife only 
from our ignorance of this glory : when we become 
acquainted with it, it is a chain that fattens, an at- 
tractive which allures, an invincible force that renders 
itfelf governefs of all our affections. An ancient 
poet tells us of a golden chain, which his Jupiter let 
down from heaven to earth ; this thought may be 
fanCtified, and applied to this fubjeft, by faying, that 
the divine hope of our calling, and the riches of the 
glory of this inheritance, which God has prepared 
for us, is a golden chain defcending from heaven to 
us. Similar to this is ChrifVs faying to his apoftles^ 
/ will make you jijhers of men. When they caft 
their myftical line into the fea, the wide world, they 
took an infinite number of fifhes : but the hook, 
which alone rendered them fuccefsful in their divine 
fifhing, was this great hope of the calling of God, 
thefe riches of the glory of his inheritance in the hea- 
vens. 

7. Finally, The apoftle means that the know- 
ledge, which we have of this matter, comes from di- 
vine illumination* It can come from no other in- 
fluence, as we have already feen. It comes alfo in- 
fallibly from this, and when God illuminates us, it is 
not poffible that we mould be ignorant of what he 
defigns to inform us of. 

There are fome propofitions, which muft be con- 
sidered in different views. For example, let us take 
thefe words. Pfal. lxix. 21. They gave me gall 
for my meat 9 and in my thirst they gave me vinegar 
to drink. This pafTage muft be confidered in four 



( S09 ) 



different views. I. In regard to David, 2. In re- 
gard to Jefus Chrift. 3. In regard to the church in 
general. 4. In regard to every believer in parti- 
cular. 

So again in thefe words. Pfal. cxxix. 2. Many 
a time have they afflicted me from my youth : yet 
have they not prevailed against me. Thefe words 
belong as to the Jewifh, fo to the Chriftian church, 
and mult be applied to both. In ftiort, it is the 
fame with all typical prophecies. * 

Of proportions, w r hich have degrees to be remark- 
ed, take this example. And the Lord said, I have 
surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in 
Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their 
task masters ; for I know their sorrozvs, and I am 

f Some texts mujl he conjidered in different views. This mode 
of confidering a text opens a wide field of contemplation and 
affords a rich variety of matter. Here follows an example from 
one of our old divines. 

Search the Scriptures. John v. 59. This command regards 
the fcriptures themfelvesj the firlt article of difcuflion, there- 
fore, is the number of the canonical fcriptures , for our Saviour 
does not mean to fay, ftudy all writings : but ftudy the infpired 
writings. 

2- The command is to be confidered in regard to the perfons, 
to whom it was addrefled, whether to the learned, or to the il- 
literate, or to both j the fecond article of difcuflion, therefore, is 
the tranflation of the fcriptures into vulgar tongues. Search 
them critically, ye learned ! fearch them fafely ye poor ! the ef- 
fentials of religion are plain. 

3. The text is confiderable in regard to the end, for which 
the fearch is to be made. The third article of difcuflion, there?* 
fore, refpects the authority of fcripture to determine a queftion; 

4. The text is confiderable in regard to the character of thefe 
writings ; hence the neceflity of difcufling the perfpicuity of 
holy fcripture. 

To thefe are added two more views of the fubjecl:, which na- 
turally produce two queftions. 1. De interpretatione. Is fcrip- 
ture to be interpreted by the pope, or by councils, or by creeds, 
or byitfelf? 2. Be perfeSlione. Hence the queltion of tradi- 
tions, &c, Whitakeri opera theol, torn. i. De Sacr. Script. 



( 810 ) 



come down to deliver them out of the hand of the 
Egyptians. Exod. iii. 7, 8. The propofitions 
contained in this text, one touching the affliction, 
and the other concerning the deliverance of the 
people of God, muft be confidered according to their 
different degrees of accomplishment For 

1. They were accomplifhed in the fervitude and 
deliverance of Ifrael from Egypt. 

1. In the divers fervitudes and deliverances, which 
afterwards befel Ifrael, particularly in that of Babylon^ 
which was a fecond Egypt. 

3. They have been accomplifhed in a more ex- 
cellent fenfe in the fervitude and deliverance of the 
church at the coming of Jesus Christ, and at the 
preaching of the gospel. 

4. In the deliverance of the church from the bon- 
dage of Antichrist. 

5. And finally, they are yet to be fulfilled in the 
laft and great deliverance at Jefus Chrift's second 
coming. * 

In like manner difcufs thefe words of Ifaiah, 
quoted by S. Paul, Behold me, and the children 
whom the Lord hath given me. Heb. ii, 1 3. The 

* / will deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians: " The 
delivery of the Jewifh people out of Egypt, is the molt wonder- 
ful prodigy of the old teftament. God mentions it a thoufand 
times in the Scripture, he fpeaks of it, if I may be allowed the 
expreffion, with a kind of complacency ; he relates -it as the 

molt fhining proof of the ftrength of his all powerful arm. 

It muft be allowed, that this delivery out of Egypt, covers and 
represents other deliverances. The authority of S. Paul, i Cor. 
ii. 10. that of all tradition, and the prayers of the church, oblige 
us to confider it as a type of the freedom which a chriftian ob- 
tains by the waters of baptifm, and his delivery from the yoke 
of the prince of this world. The Revelation mentions another 
life of this delivery, by {hewing thofe, who have overcome the 
beaft, finging the fong of Mofes the fervant of God, and the fong 
of the lamb. Belles Lett res, vol. 2. 



( 311 ) 



firft degree of the accomplifhment of thefe words 
was in Isaiah and his children ; the 2d in Jesus 
Christ and his difciples at the first preaching of the 
gofpel ; and the 3d in Jefus and his followers at the 
last day, when he fhall prefent us to his father to be 
glorified. 

The fame may be faid of Ezekiel's vifion of the 
bones, which rofe from the dead, for it has three de- 
grees of accomplifhment. 1. In the deliverance of the 
Jews from their Babylonian captivity. 2. In the de- 
liverance of the church by the miniftry of the gofpel. 
3. In the laft resurrection. There are many paffages 
of fcripture, which mull be explained in this man- 
ner. 

In regard to tfyofe proportions, which feem m- 
considerable, when taken in a general fenfe, but 
which are very important in a particular explication^ 
they may be exemplified by thefe two paffages. 

Pfal. xxxvii. 3. Inhabit the land. At firft fight, 
it feems as if there was nothing in thefe words, ne- 
verthelefs a particular explication will difcover many 
excellent truths in them,. * 

* Seemingly inconfiderable proportions are frequently met with 
in fcripture no doubt, but alas I how often abufed \ The repu- 
tation of being a man of penetration — The love of the marvel- 
lous — The childifh defire of fparkling in the eye of beholders — 
with a thoufand other depravities infnare a public fpeaker here. 
Mr Claude's rule therefore mould be obferved with the utmoft 
j caution, otherwife we fhall foon find brilliant pearls hid in fcrip- 
ture field, which the holy Ghoft never depofited there. We 
fhall view texts of fcripture as a vulgar eye views luminous bo- 
dies, afcribing thofe radiating crowns to them, which are only 
formed by our own eye-brows. Sometimes we are led aftray 
by a too clofe attachment to the letter. Sometimes thefe and 
fuch likethings lead honeft men aftray, but oftner felf conceit. 

Sometimes alfo a fmcere defire of elucidating fcripture produces- 
this folemn trifling. In fuch a cafe we praife the motive, and 
lament that a heart fo good fhould be united to a head io weak. 



( 312 ) 

So again Prov. xv. 3. The eyes of the Lord are 
in every place, beholding the evil and the good. In 
the general notion of this propofition, which only 
regards the omnifcience of God, there does not 
feem to be any thing extremely important : but if 
you defcend, as you ought, to particulars, you will 
perceive, 

1. A providential knowledge regulating and de- 
termining all events, and directing them to their 
ends. 

2. A knowledge of approbation in regard to the 
good, and of condemnation in regard to the wicked. 

3. A knowledge of protection and recompenfe on 
the one fide, and of chastisement and punifhment on 
the other. So that this paflage contains the whole 
doctrine of providence, the punilhments of the 
wicked and the benedictions, which accompany the 
juft. 



CHAP. VI. 

Of Texts to be difcuffed by way of Obfervation. 

COME texts require a difcuffion by way of con- 
fideration, or obfervation. The following hints 
may ferve for a general direction. 

1 . When texts are clear of themfelves, and the 
matter well known to the hearers , it would be trifling 
to amufe the people with explication. Such texts 
muit be taken as they are, that is, clear, plain, and 

However ridiculous Tome of thefe deep men make themfelves by \ 
abufing fcripture, others of great name have exemplified Mr 
Claude's rule very properly and very beautifully. 



( «s ) 



evident, and only obfervations fhould be made oa 
them. * 

2. Mod hijlorkal texts mull be difcuffed in this 
way ; for, in a way of explication, there would be 
very little to fay. For example, what is there to 
explain in this paifage ? Then Jesus, six days before 
the passover, came to Bethany, -where Lazarus was, 
zuhich had been dead, whom he raised from the 
dead. There they made him a supper, and Martha 
served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at table 
with him : John. xii. Would it not be a lofs of time 
and labour to attempt to explain thefe words ; and are 
they not clearer than any comments can make them? 
The way of obfervation, then, muft be taken. *f 

3. There are fome texts, which require both ex* 
plication and obfervation, as when fome parts may 
need explaining. % For example, A&s i. 19, And 

# Preachers muft not attempt to explain clear fubjecls. A very 
fenfible writer calls this turn of mind " a capacity of being al- 
ways frivolous, and always unanfwerable. I have known it ? 
adds he, more than once afcend the pulpit : one of this fort, ta- 
king it in his head to be a great admirer of Dr. TillotfonandDr. 
Beveridge, never failed of proving out of thefe great authors* 
things, which no man living would have denied him upon his 
own fingle authority." Spectator, vol. ii. N. 138. 

f cc Hiftorical paflages muft be diicufied by way of obferva- 
tion. I have feen no expofitor, who affords more obvious, per- 
tinent, and edifying obfervations, than our excellent Mr Henry. 
Thofe parts of holy fcripture, which feem at nrft fight the leafi 
inftructive, furnifh in the hand of this ingenious man much in* 
ftruction, or at leaft much opportunity of initrucHom 

% " In fome texts explication and obfervation muft be mixed 
Here follows an example from a Danifh divine. The fubjecl; is 
the kingly office of Jefus Chrift. It is neceflary to explain this 
fubjecl:, and to fhew wherein the regal authority of Chrift con- 
iifts. (i It confifts, fays our author, i . in vocation j for the fub« 
jecls of Chrift are in rebellion, and he calls them to fubmiflion 
by his word, and by his fpirit. z. In legiflation ; for Chrift 

Rr 



( si* ) 



while they looked stedfastly toward heaven, as he 
went up, behold! two men stood by him in white ap- 

gave laws to his apoftles, and commanded them to teach all 
nations to obferve all things, whatsoever he had commanded 
them. 3. In prefent government ; for the dominion of Jefus 
extends over good and bad angels, the world and the church ; 
the adminiftration of providence, and the diftribution of grace 
are under his actual direction. 4. In future judgment ; for 
God hath given all judgment into his hand," So far explication. 
Our author clofes the Subject with obfervations on that obedi- 
ence, which the Subjects of Chrift ought to yield to this king. 
"1. In all cafes of conscience, where human authority, and the 
laws of Chrift clam, Chriftians are to obey him rather than 
man. 2. Chriftians are firmly to believe, that Chrift will guard, 
protect, and perpetuate his church, and they are to act on this 
principle amidft all the fraud and force of adverfe times. 3. The 
fubjects of Chrift, if they would enter into the fpirit of christian 
obedience, muft conftantly attend to thefe four precepts. 1. Seek 
not earthly honours : but fet your affections on things above. 

2. Contend for Chrift not with carnal 5 but with Spiritual wea- 
pons. 3 . Aflbciate with holy perfons, take them for the Sub- 
jects, and for the only true Subjects of Jefus Chrift. 4. Prepare 
for affliction, persecution, and death ; " If we Suffer with him 
we {hall be glorified together." Brochmand. Theol. Syftema. 
Art. xvii. cap. ix. Caf. ConScientse 3. Quse debeant effe homi- 
nis chriftiani meditationes et curx, ut Chriftum, ut Regem fu- 
um vere amet ? Tom i. p. 10 1 9." 

The following example is of the mixed kind. "Prov. xvi. 
32. He that ruleth his fpirit, is better than he that taketh a city. 
I. Let us explain what it is to rule one's own Spirit in regard 
to our natural diSpofitions, Surrounding objects, and vicious but 
old habits. 2. Let us prove, that a man, who thus ruleth his 
own Spirit, excels the greateft conqueror. In order to this, we 
need only make Sour observations. 1. On the motives, which 
animate our two heroes. 2. On the exploits, that they perform. 

3. On the enemy whom they attack. 4. On the rewards, which 
they obtain." Saurin. Ser. Tom. ix. Sur le veritable heroifme. 

Our divines purfue very different methods of difpofing of the 
explanatory parts of thofe Sermons, which they compofe of ob- 
fervations, and explication. 

Sometimes the explanation makes the exordium. Thus Dr 
Mofs (on Luke xii. 21 • So is he» that layeth up treaSure for 
liimSelf, and is not rich towards God.) explains the text in the 
introduction, and then adds " from the words thus explained, 
I find ground to raife thefe two obfervations, which Shall be the 
Subject of my following difcourSe. 1 . A greedy defire of riches ? 



t 315 ) 

pareL Here it will be neceffaiy to explain in a few 
words the caufe of their looking Jledfajlly toward bea~ 
ven; for, by lifting their eyes after their divine matter, 
they expreifed the inward emotions of their minds» 
It will be needful alfo to explain this other expreffion, 
as he went up, and to obferve^ that it muft be taken 
in its plain popular fenfe ; and that it fignifies not 
merely the removal of his vifible prefence, while he 
remained invilibly upon earth : but the abfolute ab» 
fence of his humanity, This is the natural fenfe of 
the words, and the obfervation is necelfary to guard 
us againft that fenfe, which the church of Rome 
impofes on them for the fake of tranfubftantiation y * 

and a fond reliance upon them, is the moft wretched kind of 
folly and improvidence; 2. The belt enjoyment, and wifeft im- 
provement of our worldly wealth, is to be rich towards God ; 
that is, fo to ufe and employ what we have aa to recommend 
ourfelves to his benediction and favour thereby." Serm. be- 
fore Governors of city Hofpitals at St. Sepulchre's. 1708. 

Sometimes the explication makes one part of the body of the dif- 
courfe. " Mat. v. 16. Let your light fo fhine before men, and fo 
on. 1. Shew what is implied in the duty of letting our light fhine 
before men. 2. Lay down fome confiderations proper to enforce 
the practice of it. 3. Obferve how far thefe confiderations may 
affect all Chriftians in general, or fome in particular.'' Dr Wa- 
terland's Serm. bef. Sons of the Clergy at St. Paul's, Dec 14. 
1721. 

Some mix explication and obfervation all through the ferrnon 
explaining each proportion and obferving and enforcing the in- 
ferences, that arife from it. The difcretion of the preacher mult 
determine the difpohng of thefe elucidations and obfervations. 

* Tranfubftantiation. A learned foreigner very properly calls 
this " the molt monftrous doctrine that the frenzy of fuperiti- 
tion was capable of inventing." It was eftablifhed by Pope In- 
nocent III. in the thirteenth century in the fourth council of La- 
reran, held in the year r2i5- The Greek church adopted it in 
the leventeenth century. Our author gained the higheft repu- 
tation by his controverfy with the famous Nicole on this article. 
He proved by invincible arguments that the doctrine was not 
known till the ninth century, nor the word tranfubftantiation 
until the thirteenth. Vid. Mofheim. Hift. Etch Cent. xiii. xvii. 

Rr 2 



( S16 ) 

You may alfo briefly explain this other expreffion, 
behold I two men, and {hew, that they were angels in 
human fhapes. Here you may difcufs the queftion 
of angelical appearances under human forms. Not- 
withstanding thefe brief explications, this is a text, 
that muft be difcuifed by way of oblervation. 

Obferve, in genera!, when explication and obferva- 
tion meet in one text, you muft always explain the 
part, that needs explaining, before you make any ob- 
fervations ; for obfervations muft not be made, 
till you have eftabliflied the fenfe plain and clear. * 

Many of the reformers, who rejected the doctrine of tranfub- 
{tantiation, or the change of the bread and wine into the body 
and blood of Chrift, retained or invented wild, unintelligible no- 
tions, or rather inexplicable expreflions, concerning the Lord's 
fupper. Luther taught that the real body and blood of Chrift 
were received along with the bread and wine, and that the body 
of Chrift was joined with the bread as in a red hot iron two 
diftincl: fubftances fire and iron are united ; and this he called 
sonfiMantiation. The eftablifhed church of England ufes very 
doubtful language on this article. " The body of Chrift is given, 
taken, and eaten in the fupper, only after an heavenly and fpiri- 
iual manner, and the mean, whereby the body of Chrift is re- 
ceived and eaten in the fupper, is faith/' Article xxviii. 

The explication of this article renders its meaning (till more 
abftrufe. " The outward part of the Lord's fupper is bread and 
wine—the inward part is the body and blood of Chrift, which 
[body and blood] are verily and indeed taken and received by the 
faithful in the Lord's fupper." Catechifm. 

The reformers thought themfelves authorized to ufe language 
of this kind by the vi. of John i but this chapter has no more 
to do with the Lord's fupper than it has with the creation of the 
world, as feveral of our later divines have (hewn. See Dr Har- 
ris's 2d Serin, on Tranfubft. at Salters-hall. 1735. The firft 
$>roteftants had been fo long accuftcmed to confider the Lord's 
fupper as a myftery, that they were not offended at the unintel- 
ligiblenefs of their language and fentiments on this fubjeft. 

# *' Before you make any obfervations explain and eftablifh 
your meaning. 1 ' The violation of this rule is common, and a 
preacher fometimes makes obfervations for an hour without con- 
defcending to inform the people what he is teaching. 



( 317 ) 



4. Sometimes an obfervation may be made by way 
of explication, as when you would infer fomething 
important from the meaning of an original term in 
the text. For example ; Ads xi. i. And when 
the day of Fentecoji was fully come, they were all 
with one accord i?i one place. It will be proper here to 
explain and enforce the Greek word omothmadon 
which is tranflated with one accord, for it fignifies, 
that they had the fame hope, the fame opinions, the 
fame judgment; and thus their unanimity is diftin- 
guifhed from an exterior, and negative agreement, 
which confifts in a mere profeffion of having no dif- 
ferent fentiments, and in not falling out: but this may 
proceed from negligence, ignorance, or fear of a ty- 
rannical authority* The uniformity, of which the 
church of Rome boafts, is of this kind ; for if they 
have no difputes and quarrels among them on reli- 
gious matters, (which, however, is not granted,) it is 
owing to the ftupidity and ignorance, in which the 
people are kept, or to that indifference and negli- 
gence, which the greater! part of that community dis- 
cover towards religion, concerning which they fel- 
dom trouble themfelves ; or to the fear of that tyran- 
nical domination of their prelates, with which the 
conftitution of their church arms them, Now, con- 
fider fuch an uniformity how you will, it will ap- 
pear a falfe peace. If ignorance or negligence pro- 
duce it refembles the quiet of dead carcafes in a bu- 
ry mg-ground, or the profound filence of night, when 
all are afleep ; and, if it be owing to fear, it is the 
ftillnefs of a galley-flave under the ftrokes of his of- 
ficer, a mere madow of acquiefcence produced by 
timidity, and unworthy of the name of unanimity. * 

* " Popifh uniformity is unworthy of the name of unanimi- 
ty." There are two general methods of proving this proportion. 



{ S18 ) 



The difciples of Jefus Chrift were not uniform in 
this fenfe : but their unanimity was inward, and po- 
fitive, they were of one heart , and one foul. This ex- 
plication, you perceive, is itfelf a very juft obferva- 
tion, and there are very many paflages of fcripture, 
which may be treated of in the fame manner, -f 

5. Obfervations, for the moft part, ought to be 
theological, that is to fay, they mould belong to a 
fyftem of religion. Sometimes, indeed, we may 

The firft is by narrating the hiftory oj popery for of what does 
it confift but difputes, divifions, infinite intrigues, and endlefs 
i wars ? The other is an expofure of the principles of popery, 
which notoriouily deftroy what they pretend to cherilh. 

f ** The original terms of many paflages of fcripture afford 
juft and pertinent obfervations. , ' The Englifli tranflation of the 
holy fcriptures is in general fo juft, and the confequences of find- 
ing fault with it fo injurious to the common people, that every 
prudent minifter will avoid needlefs obfervations of this kind. 
It is not fair to {hake the people's confidence in their bibles every 
Lord's-day for no other reafon than that of difplaying our erudi- 
tion. There are, however, many texts, which ought to be elu- 
cidated as our author directs. A few examples follow. 

A£b xii. 4. Herod intended after Eajter to bring Peter 
forth: metato paska after the paffbver. 

1 Cor. xi. 29. He, that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eat- 
eth and drinketh damnation to himfelf: kreina eauto judgment 
to himfelf ; that is, he incurs fome temporal punifhment as 
ficknefs, &c. ver. 30. an obfervation ought alfo to be made here 
on the time, for although it pleafed God to punifh an abufe of 
the Lord's fupper in the Corinthian church with ficknefs, or 
fudden death, yet the fame fin is not punifhed in the fame man- 
ner now. 

1 Cor. ii. 1. I came not with excellency of fpeech, or of 
wifdom j sophia fignines here the matter of St Paul's preach- 
ing, and logos the manner, fee ver. 4. I did not preach moral 
philofophy, nor did 1 deliver my do£trine in language formed by 
rhetorical rules. 

From thefe, and many more of the fame kind, arife juft and 
pertinent obfervations, which may be directed to popular edifi- 
cation; but it would be better wholly to omit them than to in- 
troduce them unguardedly, and fo as to excite groundlefs fufpi- 
cions concerning the whole Englifh verfion. 



( $19 ) 

make ufe of obfervations hiftorical, philofophical, 
and critical : but thefe mould be ufed fparingiy, and 
feldom, on neceflary occafions, and when thjy can- 
not well be avoided ; and even then they ought to 
be pertinent, and not common, that they may be 
heard with fatisfacYion. Make it a law to be ge- 
nerally very brief on obfervations of thefe kinds, 
and to inform your audience, that you only make 
them en pajfant. * 

There are, I allow, fome cafes, in which obferva- 
tions remote from theology are neceflary to the elu- 
cidating of a text. When thefe happen, make your 
obfervations /ro/^df/jS and explain and prove them. 
But, I repeat it again, in general, obfervations fliould 
be purely theological, either fpeculative, which regard 
the myfteries of Chriftianity, or practical, which re- 
gard morality : for the pulpit was ere&ed to inftrucT: 
the minds of men in religious fubje&s, and not to 
gratify curiofity, to inflame the heart, and not to 
find play for imagination. 

6. Obfervations mould not be propofed in fcholaf- 
tic ftyle, nor in common-place guife. f They 

* " Hiftorical, philofophical, and critical obfervations ought 
to be brief;" All obfervations of thefe kinds, intended to elu- 
cidate the text, are too Ihort, which do not anfwer this end » 
and, when this end is anfwered, all enlargements are fuperflu- 
ous. This remark regards the text only ; for in regard to the 
difcourfe, which is an elucidation of the fenfe, or general mean- 
ing of the text, it mud be allowed, fome of our fined fermons 
are grounded on philofophical, hiftorical, and critical data. 

f " Obfervations mould not be propofed in common-place 
guife." Many fermons of the laft century are mere common- 
place collections, and thofe of the intriguing, time-ferving part 
of the clergy are the very worft of this bad kind. They had 
not time to ftudy their fubje£ts, to form a ftyle, and to compofe 
a good fermon. Full of fecular projects, fired with ambition and 
jefentment and obliged fometimes to preagh and print, they were 



( 320 ) 



lliould be feafoned with a fweet urbanity, accom- 
modated to the capacities of the people, and adapted 
to the manners of good men. * One of the beft ex- 
driven to the fad neceflity of retailing the common-places cf 
the wholefale dealers, whom they execrated, One example (hall 
fuffice. Seth [Ward] lord bill] op of Sarum preached the funeral 
ferraon of the duke of Albermarle exactly in this way. « i Cor. 
xv. 57. The gofpel tells us, That God hath appointed a day 
wherein he will judge the world. That Chrift is ordained of 
God, to be judge both of quick and dead* 

That he fhall come in the clouds 

That he (hall fend his angels 

That he fhall fit upon the throne of his glory. 

That all nations (hall be gathered 

Chrift hath allured the world of the truth of this theory. 

Not by giving the world a fet and feries of imaginary princi- 
ples of vain philofophy. 

Not by bare affertions and confident repetitions 

Not by phantaflical obfcure ratiocinations concerning num- 
bers, vehicles." 

In this naked manner, as boys firing birds eggs, did this glo- 
rious divine connect the parts of his fermon, till, toward the 
clofe, he preached himfelf into what he calls locum luhricum % 
where we fhall at prefent leave him to get out as he can. 

■ * " Observations fhouldbe feafoned with a fweet urbanity. " 
Urbanity is oppofed to rufticity, and that, of which our author 
fpeaks, regards both the fubject itfelf, and the language, in which 
it is expreffed. 

Urbanity is not one fmgle qualification, it is the union of all. 
There are vulgar notions, vulgar expreffions, vulgar geftures, 
vulgar pronunciations ; and there are on the contrary finical 
airs, and fine-fpun theories, which are all oppofite to urbanity. 
This difcourfe is too learned, that is too common — this ftyle is 
too ftifF, that is too flimfy — this air is too haughty, and that is 
too free— this fermon is too orderly, and that is too negligent — 
In fhoit, if urbanity be not in the preacher, it will never be in his 
fermons, and nothing can give it him but a familiar converfe 
with the politer part of mankind. Well-bred women are the 
beft tutors of this fcience : but it might be dangerous to the mo- 
rals of fome young men to be put under their tuition. A re- 
fined way of thinking, a delicacy of expreflion, innumerable 
graces of elocution and action, belong to fome of the fair fex ; 
and, without finking from manly dignity into fqueaking effemi- 
nacy, a grave wife man may receive many a law from their lips. 



( 321 ) 



pedients for this purpofe is a reduction of obfcure 
matters to a natural, popular, modern air. You 
can never attain this ability, unlefs you acquire a ha- 
bit of conceiving clearly of fubjecTis yourfelf, * and 
of exprefling them in a free, familiar, eafy manner, 
remote from every thing forced, and far-fetched, -f 

" Strength and honour are their clothing — they open their 
mouths with wifdom, and the law of kindnefs is in their 
tongues." Prov. xxxL 25, 26. 

* " Acquire a habit of conceiving clearly of fubje£ts." <f i„ 
Conceive of things clearly and diftin£tly in their own natures. 
2. Conceive of things completely in all their parts, 3. Conceive 
of things comprehenfively in all their properties and relations. 
4. Conceive of things extenfively in all their kinds. Conceive 
of things orderly, or in a proper method." Br Watts 's Logick 
Chap. vi. 

f u Exprefs your thoughts in *free manner.' ' A minifter of 
Jefus Chrift mould think freely. Dr Bentley fomewhe re exe- 
crates thofe, who brought free-thinking into difrepute by their 
abufe of the term. A fober free-thinker, uncompelled by hu- 
man authority, and unreftrained by human formularies, is the 
mod likely of any man to attain that generous liberal expanfibi- 
lity of fentiment, which the redeemer of the fouls of mankind 
every where inculcates, A minifter of Chrift mould fpeak freely. 
His language fhould be v frank, open, ingenuous, free from 
duplicity and fufpicion of collufion. St Paul feems to in- 
clude both in 2 Cor. iv. 12. nolle parresia Vid. etiam 2 Cor, 
v. 2. 

(i Exprefs yourfelf in a familiar manner." There is a foft do- 
meftic ftyle, fuch as a wife parent ufes to his family : but this is 
nothing like the filly cant of an old nurfe* Dear fouls— pre- 
cious fouls— dearly beloved — and an hundred more fuch phrafes, 
however proper in certain connections, have been hackneyed 
out of their fenfes in chriftian pulpits. Minifters, who aim at 
this excellence, fhould remember, there is fuch a thing as being 
too familiar. 

*' Exprefs yourfelf in an eafy manner." Here alfo are two ex- 
tremes. The formal ftiffnefs of a pedant, and the careleflhefs of 
a man, who does not refpedt his company, are both at a diftance 
from Mr Claude's eafe- The eafe of the manner of a chriftian 
preacher in the pulpit is not the eafe of a man alone, who may 
loll—and hem— and hawk— and cough — and fpit — -and blow hi? 



c m ) 



All long trains of arguments, all embarraffinents of 



fields, the cities, and the houfes, which we imagine 
in the clouds, the mere creatures of fancy, all thefe 
fhould be avoided. * 

nofe— -but it is the eafe of a well-bred man in company. The 
eafe of the matter, of which a chriftian fermon is compoied, is 
a relative idea, and muft take its meaning from the perfons ad- 
drerTed ; for that fubject may be very eafy to fome, v/hich is 
extremely difficult to others. Nothing makes fpeaking on » 
fubject fo eafy to the fpeaker as a thorough underftanding of it. 
With what perfect eafe to themfelves, and with what unembar- 
rafTed facility to others do people in all public places of traffick 
communicate their ideas ! The reafon is, they under ft and what 
they talk about. 

" Exprefs your thoughts in an unforced manner.'' A fubject 
is forced when it is made to fpeak the direct contrary of the 
text, from which it is pretended to be drawn *, or when a di- 
rection is any way given it contrary to its genuine meaning. 

" Tit. ii. 15. Let no man defpife thee." It is in fact as no- 
torious, as it is unjuft and unreafonable, that no fort of minifters 
are generally more defpifed by the laity of their own commu- 
nion, than we of the efhblifhed church of England. A Papift 
almoft as much adores the facrificer, as he doth the facrifice of 

the mafs difTenters generally pay a very great deference to 

their minifters but how common is it for men, that cal] 

themfelves fons of our church, to feoff at her priefts I mail 

confider thefe words, 1. As a caution to the laity not to defpife 
the clergy [that is, the epifcopal clergy. ] 2. As a caution to the 
clergy to give no occafion to defpife them/' This begins a good 
fermon on the above words. We think the divifion natural and 
the inferences jufl : but the text is forced, while it is confined to 
the epifcopal clergy, for it is equally applicable to all minifters of 
other communities. Henry Newcome's Serm. preached at a 
vifitation at Manchefteriyii. Serious admonition to all defpi- 
fers of the ckrgy. 

" Exprefs your meaning in a way remote from every thing far 
fetched . v A fubject is far-fetched, when, although it may have 
iome connection with the text, yet this connection lies at a 
great diftance and obliges the preacher to go a long, long way to 
come at it. 

" * i( Avoid imaginary obfe^vations, ,, A very accurate writer 




( 323 ) 



j. Care, however, muft be taken to avoid the op- 
polite extreme, which coiififts in making only poor, 
dry, fpiritleis obfervations, frequently faid under pre- 
tence of avoiding fchool-divinity, and of fpeaking 
only popular things. Endeavour to think clearly, 
and try alio to think nobly. Let, your obferva- 
tions be replete with beauty as well as propriety, 
the fruits of a fine fancy under the direction of a 
fober judgment. If you be inattentive to this arti- 
cle, you will pafs for a contemptible declaimer of 
mean and mallow capacity, exhaufting yourfelf 
and not edifying your hearers ; a very ridiculous cha- 
racter ! * 

To open more particularly fome fources of ob- 
fervations, remark every thing, that may help you 

obferves — " that our opinion and belief are often influenced by 
paffion— -by propenfity — and by affection. The noted ftory of 
a fine lady and a curate viewing the moon through a telefcope 
is a plealant illuftration of the latter. I perceive, fays the lady, 
two fhadows inclining to each other, they are certainly two 
happy lovers : not at all, replies the curate, they are two 
ileeples of a cathedral." Elem. of Criticifm, vol. i. chap. 2. 
p. 5. 

* " Some declaimers make themfelves ridiculous by their ob- 
fervations. " Thus one, " Judges xiii. 22. Manoah faid unto his 
wife, We mall die : but his wife faid, If the Lord were pleafed 
to kill us, he would not have {hewed us all thefe things." Obf. 
1. The gray mare is fometimes the belt horfe." 

w Prov. vi. 9. Go to the ant thou fluggard, confider her 
ways and be wife. Obf. 1. So rational doth this little creature 
appear, that, were I not a chriftian, I mould in fome meafure 
believe tranfmigration. Obf. 2. Had it pleafed the Almighty 
to have put in thefe creatures an immortal foul, how righteouf- 
ly might they have gone to heaven, and we have been ihut out. 
Obf. 3. what a great baby a worldling is, he is God's fool, the 
devil s packhorfe, and a drudge for hell/' Humphrey's chrifti- 
an's great concern, Serm. 2. 

Multitudes of examples lie at hand ; but it would be mifery 
to tranfcribe fuch nonfenfe. It is not every man's part to think 
nobly, but furelyall preachers mould think juftly.j 

Sf 2 



( ) 

to think, and facilitate invention. You may rife from 
fpecies to genus, or defcend from genus to fpecies. 
You may remark the different charaders of a virtue 
commanded, or of a vice prohibited. You may en- 
quire whether the fubjed in queftion be relative to 
any other, or whether it do not fuppofe fomething 
not expreffed. You may refleft on the perfon fpeak- 
ing or ading, or on the condition of the perfon fpeafe- 
ing or ading. You may obferve time, place, perfons 
addreffed, and fee whether there be any ufeful confi- 
derations arifmg from either. You may confider 
the principle of a word or action, or the good or bad 
confequences, that follow. You may attend to the 
end propofed in a fpeech or action, and fee if there 
be any thing remarkable in the manner of fpeaking 
or ading. You may compare words or adions 
with others fimilar, and remark the differences of 
words and adions on different occafions. You may 
pppofe words and adions to contrary words and ac- 
tions, either by contrafting fpeakers or hearers. You 
may examine the foundations and caufes of words 
or adions, in order to develop the truth or falfehood, 
equity or iniquity of them. You may fometimes 
make fappofitions, refute objedions, and diftinguifh 
charaders of grandeur, majefty, meannefs, infirmity, 
neceffity, utility, evidence, and fo on. You may 
advert to degrees of more or lefs, and to different in- 
terefts, You may diftinguifh, define, divide, and in 
a word, by turning your text on every fide, you may 
obtain various methods of elucidating it. I will give 
you examples of altefe 

•j- Sources of observations. Br Watts fays, u Topics, and com- 
mon-places inform perfons of lower genius, and refrefh the me- 
mories of others of fuperior parts : but adds he, a man of mo- 
derate genius, who has made himfelf mailer cf his theme, has 



( 325 ) 



t 



RISE FROM SPECIES TO GENUS. 

Pfal. 1. 14. Sacrifice to God thank/giving^ and pay 
thy vows unto the mo ft High. In difcuffing this 
text, I would obferve firft the terms, facr'ifice I hank/- 
givingy and would elucidate them by going from the 
fpecies to the genus. The dignity of facrifice in ge- 
neral would lead me to obferve — that it is the im- 
mediate commerce of a creature with his God, an ac- 
tion, in which it is difficult to judge whether earth 
afcend to heaven, or heaven defcend to earth- — that 
in almoft all the other a£ts of religion the creature 
receives of his creator : but in this the creator re- 
ceives of his creature — that the Lord of the univerfe, 
who needs nothing, and who eternally lives in a rich 
abundance, hath fuch a condefcenfion as to be willing 
to receive offerings at our hands— that, of all digni- 
ties, that of the priefthood was the higheft, for which 

feldom need to run knocking at the doors of all the topics, that 
he may furnilh himfelf with argument, or matter of fpeaking % 
and, indeed, it is only a man of fenfe and judgment, that can 
ufe common-places and topics well ; for, amongft the variety, 
he only knows what is fit to be left out, as well as what is fit to 
be fpoken." Logic, 

" Tafte, fays Mr Rollin from the ancient orators, ferves in 
compofmon to guide and direct the underftanding. It makes 
ufe of the imagination without fubmitting to it, and keeps it al- 
ways in fubje&ion. It confults nature univerfally, follows it 
ftep by ftep, and is a faithful image of it. Referved and fpa- 
ring in the midft of abundance and riches, it difpenfes the beau- 
ties and graces of difcourfe with temper and wifdom. It never 
fufFers itfelf to be dazzled with the falfe, how glittering a figure 
foever it may make. It is equally offended with too much and 
too little, it knows precifely where to flop, and cuts off without 
regret or mercy whatever exceeds the beautiful and perfect" 
Belles Lettres, vol. x. 



( 326 ) 



reafon the ancient priefla dwelt in the tabernacle, or 
temple of God— that when God divided Canaan a- 
mong the children of Ifirael; each tribe had its por- 
tion except that of Levi, to which God afligned no- 
thing. Why ? becaufe he loved them lefs ? No, but 
becaufe he gave them the priefthood, and becaufe he 
who had the priefthood, the altar, and the cenfer, 
had God for his portion, and confequently could 
have no need of temporal things. This is, you fee, 
to rife from fpecies to genus ; for the text does not 
{peak of facrifice in general : but of the facrifice of 
praife in particular ; yet, when thefe general confi- 
derations are pertinent, they cannot fail of being well 
received.* 

II. 

DESCEND FROM GENUS TO SPECIES. 

An example may be taken from Pfal. cxxiih 3. 
Behold I as the eyes of fervants look unto the hand 

* Go from fpecies to genus. That is to fay, If a text mention 
a general idea, and confine it to fome particular fubjecl, do not 
raife your obfervations on the particular fubjecl:, atleaft do not 
reft rain them to that : but take the general idea, and make that 
the ground of your difcourfe. For example. 

A els xxviii. 5,6. "He fhook of the beaft and felt no harm. 
Howbeit they looked, when he mould have fwollen, or fallen 
down dead fuddenly ; but after they had looked a great while, 
and faw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and 
faid that he was a God." This text fpeaks of an unjuft cenfure, 
and afoolifh applaufe, which the barbarians of Melita made of S, 
Paul ; but by the above rule a good preacher took the general 
ideas, and mewed, 4< 1. The unreafonablenefs and danger of 
judging others, particularly fuch perfons as are not at all, or very 
little known to us, upon account of any calamity, or any other 
appearance whatfoever. 2. How a wife and good man ought 
to behave himfelf, if he mould happen to fuffer under any fuch 
judgment-" Dr Adams Serm. at windfor before the Queen* 
1705. 



{ 327 ) 

of their majlers^fo our eyes wait upon the Lord our 
God. Here you may aptly obferve in mafters in 
regard to fervants, and in God in regard to us three 5 
ienfes of the phrafe. There is a hand of beneficence, 
a hand of protection, or deliverance, and a hand of 
correction. A fervant experts favours from the hand 
of his mafter, not from that of a ftranger. He looks 
to him for protection and deliverance in threatning 
dangers, and refufes all help, except that of his mat- 
ter. He expects correction from him, when he 
commits a fault, and, when corre&ed, humbles him- 
felf under his mafter' s frown, in order to difarm him 
by tears of repentance. The application of thefe to 
the fervants of God is eafy. The word fuccour is 
general, and may very well be confidered by defend- 
ing from the genus to the fpecies, and by obferving 
the different occafions, which we have for divine af- 
fiftance, and confequently the different afliftances and 
fuccours, which God affords us — as the help of his 
word to remove our ignorance, doubts, or errors — 
the help of his providence to deliver us out of afflic- 
tions — the help of his grace and fpirit to guard us 
from the temptations of the world, and to aid us a- 
gainft the weakneffefs of nature — -the help of divine 
confolations to fweeten the bitternefs of our exercifes 
under diftrefling circumftances, and to give us cou- 
rage to bear affli&ions — -the help of his mercy to par- 
don our fins, and to reftore to our confciences that 
tranquillity, which they have loft by offending God. 
You will meet with a great number of texts which 
may be difcuffed in this manner : but great care muft 
be taken not to ftrain the fubjec~t, for that would make 
you look like a fchool-boy. The beft way is to make 
only one general obfervation, and then to apply it 



( 328 ) 



to feveral particular fubje&s, collecting all at laft in- 
to one general point of view.* 

III. 

REMARK THE DIVERS CHARACTERS OF A VICE, 
WHICH IS FORBIDDEN, OR OF A VIRTUE, WHICH 
IS COMMANDED, f 

For example, 2 ThefT. iii. 5. The Lord direcl 
your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient 
waiting for Chrif. Here I mould defcribe the cha- 
racters of true love to God, and, perhaps, it might 
not be improper to fubjoin the characters of expec- 
tation of Chrift ; and that I might not feem to travel 
the fame road twice, I would call the latter emotions^ 
which accompany hope in Chrifl.:f: 

* Go from genus to /pedes, that is to fay, when a text fpeaks 
of a fubjecT: in general, apply the general idea to particular cafes. 
Thus a general truth may be applied to particular perfons— 
times— places— circumftances — and fo on, as in the example 
given by Mr Claude. 

f Remark the characlers of a vice, or a virtue. Obferve what 
properties, or peculiar qualities belong to any particular fubjecT. 
This is a kind of diffufive definition, including propria and diffe~ 
rentia We have a fine example of this manner of treating 
the fubject of philantropy in 1 Cor. xiii. In like manner S« 
James defcribes the chara&eriftical properties of the wifdom, 
that is from above, iii. 17. " I fhall explain, fays an excellent 
man, each of thefe feven characters of wifdom, and (hew, that 
they are the characters of true and heavenly wifdom, and then 
apply what fhall be faid on this argument to ourfelves." Dr 
Bradford's Serm. on purity and peace at Bow-Church. 17 10. 

" Acts iv. 32. The multitude of them, that believed, were of 
one heart, and of one foul, &c. Obf. I- The two great cha- 
racters of the whole body of Chriftians at that time, unanimity 
and charity. Obf. 2. In what manner and degree Chriftians in 
every age ought to refemble them in thefe characters, &c. &c." 
Dr Bradford's Serm. at St Sepulchre's for Charity-Schools. 
Unam. and Char, the charact. of Chriftians, 1709. 

% Emotions, which accompany hope, that is to fay, the concomitant s 
©f hope. Concomitants are not caufative, or confequential ; 



( 329 ) 



To begin with the characlers of true love to God 

1. The feat of it is the heart which it penetrates, 
and pofTeifes. This diftinguilhes it from the feign- 
ed love of hypocrites, which is only in word, or in 
external a&ions, while their hearts are full of finful 
felfdove, fo that it may be faid of them as God once 
faid of the I fra elites, this people honours me with 
their lips^ but their heart is far from ??ie. 

2. It is a love, that poffefTes the zvhole heart, 
without allowing a partition among different ob- 
jects. Thus it is diftmguifhed from that partial love 

HP 

but collateral ; they are conjoined with another thing. Thefe 
in the compofition of a fermon, refemble accompanyments in 
mufic, and our divines throw them into their compofitions in a 
great variety of methods. Sometimes they treat of concomi- 
tants profefledly, as Mr Claude does above : more frequently, e- 
fpecially among our old divines, concomitants compofe the ap- 
plication ; of this latter method two examples {hall fuffice. 

" Acts vii. 22. Mofes was learned in all the wifdom of the 
Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds." After difcuf- 
fing the fubjecl, human literature, and mewing the great ad- 
vantages of it in the exercife of the miniftry, the preacher 
makes an application of his fubjetl: by (hewing what ought to 
accompany human learning in the minifters of religion. 1C i a 
Ufe it not unneceffarily. 2. Ufe it not vain-glorioufly. 3 . Ufe it 
not proudly. 4. Ufe it not heretically. 5. Ufe it not profanely*. 

But ufe it with humility — moderation— fobriety— as an 

handmaid to Chrift, &c. Funeral fermon for Langley, Mafler 
of St Paul's School, byDr Reynolds, 1657. 

" Jofhua i. 2. Mofes my fervant is dead. The fervantof 

Chrift, whofe funeral we are now folemnizing, like Mofes, was 
faithful in executing all the parts of his office j and his fidelity 
was accompanied with. 1. Diiintereftednefs— -2. Plainnefs and 
opennefs of heart — 3. Courage — 4. Candour— 5. Concife gocd 
fenfe— 6. Diligence, &c, &c, Sam, Jacombe's Serm, at Bright's 
funeral, 1656. 

In modern pra&ife concomitants are ufually interwoven 
with the fubjeft, and ferve to explain, illuftrate, and prove it ? 
conveying innumerable graces into a difcourfe, and freeing it 
from the ftiffhefs of fcholaftic pedantry. Various . methods, 
however, are proper on various occaJlons, and preachers muft 
ufe their own (kill in fele&ing. 

... Tr 



( 330 ) 

which almoft-chriftians have, who have fometknes 
good defires towards zeal and repentance : but they 
are tranfient only, and never come to perfection, be- 
caufe the foul is divided, and occupied with various 
worldly objects, and becaufe the love of God, from 
which true repentance and zeal proceed, is not root- 
ed in the heart : it is for this reafon, that fcripture 
commands us to love God with all our hearts, or, 
as David fpeaks, To love him with a cordial affec- 
tion* 

3. The love of God is not indeed alone in the 
heart of a good man, he may alfo love creatures ; a 
father loves his children, a friend his friend, a mat- 
ter his fervant, a king his fubjects, a wife her huf- 
band ; but the character of divine love in us is, on the 
one hand to fuffer no love contrary to itfelf in the 
heart, for no man can few e two maflers^ and the love 
of the world is enmity againfl God ; and on the o- 
ther hand, love of God does not fuffer any of the 
objects, the love of which is compatible w T ith itfelf, 
to hold the chief place in the heart. This chief place 
is for God, to put him in a fecond place is to treat 
him opprobrioufly. Even to equal another object: 
with him is to infult him, wherever he is, he mud 
fill the throne himfelf, and, if a holy heart be an 
image of heaven, as it is in effedt, God muft reign 
there, and all muft be fubmifTive to him, 

4. The emotions and ads of this love muft be 
infnite y without mealiire as well as without fubordi- 
nation ; without bounds as well as without partition. 
The reafon is, our love muft refemble its object, and 
its .object is infinite, and this is one fenfe of this com- 
mand Thou /halt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
foul*. But how, fay you, can we, who are finite 

* Love muft refemble its objeft. A great critic fays, " that many 



( 331 ) 



creatures perform infinite a£ls ? I anfwer, the a£ts of 
the creature are in a manner infinite. * This infinity 

motions have fome refemblance to their caufes is a truth, that 
can be made clear by induction— fluggifh motion for example, 
caufeth a languid unpleafant feeling; flow uniform motion a 
feeling calm and pleafant ; and brifk motion, a lively feeling 
that roufes the fpirits and promotes activity. — A found in a low- 
key, brings down the mind fuch a found in a full tone, hath a 
certain folemnity which it communicates to the feeling produced 
by it.— A wall or pillar that declines from the perpendicular, 
produceth a painful feeling, as of a tottering and falling within 
the mind. — This is ft ill more remarkable in emotions raifed by 
human actions : any fignal inftance of gratitude, befides procu- 
ring efteem for the author, raifeth in the fpectator a vague e- 
rnotion of gratitude, which difpofeth him to be grateful ; and 
this vague emotion hath a flrong refemblance to its caufe, viz* 
the paffion that produced the grateful action. —In fhort with re- 
fpect to all virtuous actions, it will be found' by induction, that 
they lead us to imitation, by infpiring emotions refembling thepaf-> 
jions that produced thefe actions." Pafiions indeed are afcribed 
to the divinity only figuratively in fcripture : but is there any 
harm in purfuing the thought of this admirable critic, and ap- 
plying it to chriilian love excited by the mighty acts of the in-* 
vifible God, who not only opened inexhauitible treafures of 
temporal favours : but £< fo loved the world as to give his only 
begotten Son, that whofoever believeth in him mould not perilh 
but have eternal lifer" 

* Infinite. Mr Locke on this fubject fays, <c the great God of 
whom, and from whom are all things, is incomprehenfibly in- 
finite. But yet when we apply to that firft and fupreme being, 
our idea of infinite, in our weak and narrow thoughts, we do it 
primarily in refpect of his duration and ubiquity: and I think 
more figuratively to his power, wifdom, and goodnefs, and other 
attributes, which we properly inexhauitible and incomprehenfible, 
for when we call them infinite, we have no other idea of this in- 
finity, but what carries with it fome reflection on, and rntima-, 
tions of, that number or extent of the acts or objects of God's 
power, wifdom, and goodnefs, which can never be fuppofed fo 
great, or fo many which thefe attributes will not always exceed, 
let us multiply them in our thoughts, as far as we can, with all 
the infinity of endlefs number !" Ejfiay b. ii. c, 17./, 1. 

Our tranflators feem to ufe the word infinite in the fame fenfe 
Pfalm exlvii. 5. « He telleth the number of the ftars : he calleth 
them all by their names. Great is our Lord^ and of great power, 
his understanding is infinite." 

Tt % 



t %t% ) 



confifts in my opinion in two tilings, ill. Our emo- 
tions go to the utmoft extent of our power without 
coolnefs, or caution - and fecondly, when we have 
ftretched our fouls to the utmoft of our power, we 
cannot be content with ourfelves, and we acknow- 
ledge our duty goes infinitely beyond our emotions, 
and actions. Thus we ought to love God with all 
the powers of our hearts, giving up (if I may fo 
{peak) our whole fouls to him, and at the fame time 
we mall feel a fecret diflatisfadtion with ourfelves 
for not being able to love him enough. * 

5. This love, which has no bounds itfelf, Jets 
bounds to every emotion towards other objedts. It 

* We (hall be Inwardly diiTatisfied with ourfelves for not being 
able to. love God enough. " No man who ftudies himfelf or 
others, but muft be fenfible of a tendency or propensity in the 
mind, to complete every work that is begun, and to carry things 

to their full perfection Hence our uneafinefs when an intereft- 

ing fiery is broke off in the middle, when a piece of miific ends 
without a clofe, or when a building or garden is left unfmifhed. 
, —The fame uneafinefs is perceptible with refpe£t to fubjects 
that admit not any conclufion ; witnefs a feries that has no end, 
commonly called an infinite feries. The mind running along fuch 
a feries, begins foon to feel an uneafinefs, which becomes more 
and more fenfible, in continuing its progrefs without hope of 
coming to an end. — The pleafure we feel at firit, is a vivid e- 
jnotion of grandeur, arifing from the immenfe extenfion of the 
object : and to increafe the pain we feel afterward for the want 
of a termination, there concurs a pain of a different kind, occa- 
lioned by ftretching the eye to comprehend fo great a profpecl : 
a pain that gradually increafes with the repeated efforts we 
make to grafp the whole." Elm of Cr. vol. i.e. 8. 

David, confidering the omnipotence of Jehovah, Pfal. exxxix. 
feels various emotions — " Wonder, Marvellous are thy works, 
and that my foul knoweth right well. — Love, How precious 
alfo are thy thoughts unto me, O God! Satiety, How great 
is the fum! Pain, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it 
is high, I cannot attain unto it." Indignation againli the un- 
reafonable enmity of men, " Do not I hate them, O Lord, that 
hate thee ? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them 
mine enemies." "What a refemblance between the obje&s of his 
ideas, and the emotions or paffions produced J 



( 333 ) 

is, as it were, an immenfe fire 9 emitting a few fparks, 
a few comparatively faint emotions, toward inferior 
objects ; fo a king collects in his own perfon all the 
honours of his kingdom, and communicates fome 
lucid titles to inferior fubjeds, fo the fea diftributes 
of its bound lefs waters to rivers, fountains, and rills. 
Not only mult we refufe to love what God has for- 
bidden, and choofe to refpect what he allows us to 
love : but, to fpeak properly, we ought to love only 
what he commands us to love. This love mould be 
in our hearts amidft all our other affections as a 
prince is among the officers of his army, or, to fpeak 
more ftrongly, as God himfelf is amongft all the 
creatures of the whole univerfe, giving to all life, mo- 
tion, and being. 

6. The love of God is accompanied with humility 
and Jear, as a fait to prevent corruption ; and by this 
mean we are kept from degrading liberty into licen- 
tioufnefs. In effect, how great mercy foever God 
has for us, it is the mercy of a mafter. How great 
foever his paternal tendernefs is, it is the tendernefs 
of a fovereign judge. His mercy, which is fo amiable 
to us, is never feparated from his infinite juftice and 
power; and one of the mo ft eflential marks of our 
love to him is to tremble and become nothing in his 
prefence. Thefe two things always go together. To 
fear him rightly we mufi fear him as a father ; and 
to love him rightly we muft love him as a fovereign 
Lord. * 

* " We muft fear God as a father, and we muft love him as 
a fovereign." This is a fine remark, and perfectly a greeable to 
the nature of things, and to the holy fcriptures. U'e are na- 
turally fo formed, that our felicity depends not on the extinction 
of any one paffion : but on the due regulation of all. Agreeably 
to this notion, Mofes fays, " Exod. xx 9 20. Fear not j for God 



( 334 ) 



j. This love rnufl: in one refped imitate the love 
of God, from which ours proceeds ; but in another 
relpecl: it muft not imitate his. It mull imitate his, 
by difFufing itfelf where his diffufes itfelf, and follow 
it, even when it is beftowed upon enemies, according 
to our Lord's precept, Love your enemies, biefs them 
that curfe you, do good to them that hate you, and 
fray for them that defpitefully ufe you, and perfecute 
you, * that ye may be the children of your father, 

is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your 
faces, that ye fin not." Fear not, that ye may fear! that is to fay, 
Do not dread God as a tyrant ; for fuch a horror would incapa- 
citate you for reverencing him as a father. This difpofition ac- 
cords with the higheft joy, <c Serve the Lord with fear — rejoice 
with trembling — and kifs the Son." Pfal. ii. u, 12. 

The old fchoolmen confidered fear in religion in a fourfold 
view, a fear of lofmg temporal advantages for the fake of religi- 
on they called a worldly fear; and this they faid was wicked. 
A fear of divine punimment, operating reformation they named 
aflaviih fear; and this they thought imperfect. That they called 
a filial fear, which dreaded offending God ; and, as the religion 
of mod men generally arifes at firft from a mixture of fear of 
punifhment and fear of offending God, they made this compound 
difpofition a fourth fort of fear, and called it initial fear. Some 
added a fifth called natural fear. Thorn, Aquinas Sum. ii, 2, 9. 
Art. 2. 

The truth is, fear is a natural paflion which changes its name, 
I had alrnolt faid its nature, with its object. " A fervile fear of 
pain, fays one, attending a deprivation of good, and accompani- 
ed with a fear of fin, is a laudable fear, and John the Baprili en- 
deavoured to excite it, when he faid, " Matt. iii. O generation 
of vipers ! who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" 
and Jems Chrift, when he faid, " Mat. x. 28. Fear him, who is 
able to deftroy both body and foul in hell." For this reafon he 
fo often threatens us with future puniftiments, that we fhould 
conceive a dread of them and repent. " Laurent. Beyerlinck, 
Theatrum. Tom. vii in verb. Timor." 

* Pray for them that perfecute you. The pacific difpofition in» 
culcated by our Lord in this, and the other verfes connected 
with it, has never been more manifeftly mifreprefented, than 
when it has been explained fo as to include a tame fubmiflion 
to blind guides in religion. Pray for your perfecutors is equal, 
according to fuch expofitors, to put out your eyes- refign your 



( ) 

which is in heaven ;for he maketh his fun to rife ott 
the evil and on the good, andfendeth rain on the jujl 
and on the unjufl. But in another refpect we muft 
not imitate his love, for God's love to us is a jealous 
love, which cannot ct>nfent to our having any other 
object of fupreme love befide himfelf : but our love 
to him can have no greater perfection than that, 
which arifes from a multiplicity of objects : our 
jealoufy refembles that of the prophet Elijah, who 
being afked, when he was in the cave of Beer-fheba, 
what he did there? anfwered, / have been very jealous 
for the Lord God of Hojls^for the children of Ifrael 
have forfaken thy covenant, and thrown down thine 
altars. This was S. Paul's jealoufy, when he faw 
the Corinthians turned from the purity of his gof- 
pel ; / am jealous over you with a godly jealoufy, for 
I have efpoufed you to one hiifband, that I may pre- 
fent you as a chajle virgin to Chrifl. Indeed, one of 
the moft indubitable marks of our love to God is to 
lament when his name is difhonoured, his word ne- 
glected, or defpifed, and his commands violated. 

8. A chriftian's love to God principally confifts in 
obedience. * This, I grant, is not always a certain 
character; for how many perfons are there, who ab- 
ftain from evil, and do good, from principles of in- 
tereft or fear rather than love ? but, however, it is a 
negative character always fure ; becaufe it may al- 
ways be concluded, that they, who do not obey 
God, do not love him, for all, who do love God; obey 
laws. Thereafcn is evident. All, who truly love 

chriftian liberty — give up your bible — forfwear the fupremaCy 
of Chrift— and renounce, the only principles, that will fupport 
any profeffion of chriftianity. 

* Love to God confifts principally in obedience ; not in ex- 
tafiesj and high flights of fancy. 



( 33S ) 

God, have an ardent defxre of being loved by him, 
and it is effential to love to defire a return of affec- 
tion from its obje£L W e cannot expert to be be- 
loved of God, unlefs. we ftrive to pieafe him, nor 
can we pieafe him without keeping his command- 
ments. The love of God is always accompanied 
with an holy diligence to pieafe him, and an awful fear 
of offending him. A true believer is always afraid, 
left any thing through negligence or infirmity fhould 
efcape him, and clafh with his duty, or provoke his 
God. This made St. Paul fay, Work out your own 
falvation with fear and trembling ; and elfewhere, 
/ keep under my body, and bring it into fubjeftion* 
lejl, after I have preached to others, I myfelf fhould 
become a cajl-away ; and hence thofe prayers of holy 
men, teach me thy ways, 0 Lord, I will walk in 
thy truth : unite my heart to fear thy name : may 
God make you perfecl in every good work, to do his 
will, working in you that, which is well-pleafing in 
his fight through Jefus Chrifl. 

9. The love of God is not only continued in a 
chriftian : but it is alfo inflamed under the rod of 
corretlion, contrary to that falfe love, which fubfifts 
only in profperity, and is quite extinct inadverfity ; 
for falfe love in religion flows from temporal inte- 
reft, and is dependent on irregular felf-love: but true 
love to God regards his glory and our falvation, 
two things which can never be feparated, becaufe 
GodJhas united them fo, that they conftitute the 

# I bring my body under fubjeSlion. That is to fay, I endeavour 
as every wife man (hould, to regulate my fenfual appetites by 
reafon. This meaning is too fimple and plainj and from this, 
and other fuch paffages perplexed with endlefs fubtilties, have 
ari fen profitable monkery in the the church of Rome, and un- 
profitable aufterities in fome proteftant communities; all con» 
trary to the fpirit of chriftianity. 



( 337 ) 

very effence of religion. Whenever, then it pleafes 
God to chaftife us, thefe two great interefts (I mean 
his glory and our falvation,) prefent themfelves be- 
fore our eyes ; and, whether we confider chaftife- 
ments as the fruits of our own fins, which have of- 
fended God, or as paternal ftrokes to eftablifh us in 
holinefs, they cannot but inflame our love. Add to 
thefe, that, when a believer fees his God frown, he 
cannot help apprehending in fome fenfe that his 
wrath will go farther, that the Lord will forfake, and 
entirely leave him. Hence thefe expreffions of Da- 
vid, Forfake me not 0 Lord, 0 my God be not far 
from me. My God, ?ny God, why haft thou forfaken 
me f why art thou fo far from helping me, and from 
the words of my roaring f And hence Afaph fays, 
Will the Lord caft off for ever ? and will he be fa- 
vourable no more ? is his mercy clean gone for ever ? 
doth his promife fail for ever more ? 

The Tyrians, it feems, when Alexander befieged 
them, imagined they faw by fome extraordinary mo- 
tion, that the image of Apollo, in which all their 
hopes of protection were placed, intended to quit 
their city ; to prevent this misfortune they faftened 
their god with chains of gold. This I own was a 
foolifh fuperftition : but methinks we may fanftify 
the thought, and almoft learn a believers conduct 
from it. When he imagines his God means to for- 
fake him he holds him (if I may be allowed to fay 
fo,) with chains of love, he throws around him the 
tender arms of his piety, he weeps on his bofom, 
and, to make ufe of a better example than that of 
the Tyrians, he conftrains him, as the difciples did 
at Emmaus, Abide with me for the day is far fpent^ 
and it is towards evening. 

10. True love to God is not fuperfliiiaus . Su- 
U u 



( 338 ) 



perltition ufually fprings from one of thefe four prin- 
ciples. Either firft from fervile fear y which makes 
people believe, that God is always wrathful, and in- 
vents means to appeafe him, employing for this pur- 
pofe ridiculous practices unworthy of humanity itfelf. 
•f* Or 2dly from a natural inclination^ which we all 
have to idolatry, which makes men think, they fee 
fome ray of the divinity in extraordinary creatures, 
and on this account they transfer a part of their devo- 
tion to them. % Or 3dly from hypocrify^ which 
makes men willing to difcharge their obligations to 
God by grimace, and by zeal for external fervices ; 
for which purpofe they can perform a great number 
of any kind. Finally, from prefumption, which 
makes men ferve God after their own fancies, and 
eftablifh fuch a worfhip as pleafes and flatters them- 
felves, without regarding whether they pleafe God. * 
All thefe appear in the fuperftitions of the Church of 
Rome, the greateft part of which fprang from fear of 
the fire of purgatory, as mortifications, maffes, jubi- 

f Superftiticn is ridiculous. When the monafteries were fup- 
preffed in England in 1535, there was found fome of the vir- 
gin Mary's milk at eight places, the coals that roafted St Law- 
rence, an angel with one wing, who brought over the head of 
the fpear that pierced our Saviour's fide, &c. &c. &c. Super Hi- 
tion. See vol. I. p- 216, note 5,—p. 218, notes 6, 7. — p. 244, 
note 6,— p. 252, note 1,— p. 255, note 2. 

% Men have a natural inclination to idolatry. The people of 
Tyre and Sidon hearing Herod's oration, gave a fhout, faying, 
It is the voice of a God and not of a man. Acts xii. 22. and the 
Lycaonians, on hearing Paul and Barnabas, faid, " The Gods 
are come down to us in the likenefs of men." Ads xiv. 1 1. See 
vol. I. p. 182.— note 1. 183. n. 2. 

* " Superftition proceeds from fear, hypocrify, prefumptiou 3 
&c. Of all fuperftitions (fays Mr Voltaire) is not hating a 
neighbour for his opinions the moft dangerous ? and is it not e- 
vident, that it would be far more reafonable to adore the mofl 
paltry relics, the milk and the ihift of the virgin MaTy, than to 
deteft and perfecute a brother ? Sur Jokran. c. xx. 



( 339 ) 

iees, indulgences, penal fatisfa&ions, and many more 
of the fame kind. It is alfo evident, that fome came 
from that dreadful propenfity natural to all mankind 
to deify creatures ; to this may be referred the wor- 
shipping of images, the invocations of faints and an- 
gels, the cuftom of fwearing by creatures, the adora- 
tion of relics, pilgrimages, the adoration of the hoft f 
and many fuch things. Nor is it lefs true, that hypo- 
crify produced others, as beads, chaplets, rofaries, 
prayers by tale, frequent fafts, vifiting holy places^ 
&c. And finally fome came from human vanity 
and prefumption^ as feftivals, proceflions, the magni- 
ficence of churches, and, in general, all pompous ce- 
remonies in the worfhip of God. All thefe are con- 
trary to the love of God ; which is free from fuper- 
ftition. It is fuperior to fervile fear, and accompa- 
nied with aperfuafion that God is good, and that he 
loves us. It has only God for its object, it acknow- 
ledges between God and his creatures, however ami- 
able the latter may be, an infinite diftance, and con- 
fequently cannot beftovv any part of that worlhip up- 
on them, which is due to him alone. It is fincere 
and folid, more attentive to the interior than to the 
outward appearance ; for, having its principal feat in 
the heart, it rectifies a man's fentiments, whence as 
from a facred fource good works flow. In a word, 
it is humble and fubmiffive to the will of God, which 
it regards as the only rule of its duty, without paying 
any refpecl: to the vanity of fenfe or the caprice of 
the human mind. * 

i 

* " The church of Rome is fuperftitious." What Mr Claude 
fays of the church of Rome is too true of great numbers of her 
members :but is it not alfo true of fome proteftants, who with 
fewer ceremonies have perhaps as little religion as man y of them? 
Let us not imitate their uncharitablenefs : but, where they are 

UU2 



( 340 } 



i i. Genuine love to God is tranquil and peacea- 
ble^ acquiefcing in the ways of providence without 

amiable, admire them. What fome of them think the following 
ihort extracts will {hew. 

" Indeed my brethren all exterior worfhip relates to the re- 
newing of the heart as its, principal end. Every action of piety 
which does not tend to eftablifh the kingdom of God within us 
is vain. Every religious performance, which fubfifts always 
with our paffions, which leaves always in our hearts the love of 
the world, and its criminal pleafures, which does not touch our 
hatreds, our jealoufies, our ambitions, our worldly attachments, 
our indolences, is rather a femblance of virtue than virtue itfelf. 
" We are only before God what we are in heart, and affection, 
he refpects nothing in us but our love : he will be the object of 
all our defires, the end of all our actions, the principle of all our 
affections, the governing power of our whole fouls *, all, that does 
not flow from thefe difpofitions, all, that does not either conduct 
us to, or eftablifh us in thefe, however Ihining before men, is no- 
thing but " a founding brafs and a tinkling cymbal." 
. All religion in this lenfe is in the heart. God only manifefted 
himfelf to men, he only formed a vifible church upon earth, he 
only eftablifhed majeftic ceremonies, efficacious facraments, 
magnificent altars, various duties, the whole exterior of his wor- 
£hip 5 to conduct men to the inward duties of love and praife ; 
and to form to himfelf a people pure and holy, innocent and 
spiritual, who might glorify him for ever and ever." Maffillon 
on true worfhip, torn. ii. Careme. 

" There is no other worfhip but love, fays St. Auftin : it is the 
kingdom of God' within us, it is adoration in fpirit and in truth, 
it is the only end, for which God created us, he gave us love, 
only in order to our loving him. Order mull be re-eftablifhed, 
and the diforder, which has prevailed, muft be reverfed. God 
who is all in all, muft fill the place, which felf occupied once as 
if it were all in all — make men think thus, and all doubts will be 
diffipated, all the tumults of the human heart appeafed, and all 
the pretexts of irreligion and impiety will vanifh of themfelves. 
I will not reafon, I will not a Ik any thing of the man, I leave him 
to his love \ let him but love the infinitely lovely God, and let 
him endeavour to pleafe him, and what pleafes him cannot but 
be the pureft religion. This is perfect worfhip. — But what be- 
comes, you will afk, of outward Worfhip ? Give me a fociety of 
men, who confider themfelves as one family, whofe father is in 
heaven, who live only to leve God, and themfelves and each o- 
ther for his fake — there is no need to ally, where is his worfhip, 
or does \\t require any ? all, that is done to honour, obey, and 
acknowledge his favours, is a continual worfhip obvious to all. 



{ 3*1 ) 



complaining, happy in itfelf without inquietude, and 
without chagrin, flying from quarrels and divifions, 
eafy and gentle in all things, yielding in every thing, 
except in the fervice of God, and the grand inte- 
reft of falvation, in which love itfelf is inflexible, and 
incapable of compounding. * 

What would it be then, if all men were filled with the love of 
God ? their fociety would be one folemn acT: of worlhip like that 
of the blefled in heaven — ceremonies are not effential to religion, 
religion confifts in love and obedience." " Fenelon. fur le culte 
de Dieu. let, ii." 

" If the Holy Ghoft fpeak to the heart by divine infpirations, 
he will be heard in the heart with fubmifhon and entire obedience. 
Far from his altars be that vain and frivolous devotion, which, 
by aiming to conciliate Chrift and the world, the gofpel and our 
irregular paffions, offers to God only fome exercifes of exterior 
worfhip, and fuffers worldly affections to live within. Nothing 
is fo oppofite to the fpiritof God : yet nothing is fo common in 
the world, there are many obfervers of rites and ceremonies, 
Very few worftiippers inlpirit and truth. — The Holy Ghoft was 
fent to condemn what the wifdom of the world had of vain and 
profane ; to fupply what was wanting in the law, by enabling 
us to act by faith working by love, and to confummate the truths 
of the gofpel, by rendering an inward teftimony of their truth, 
and by communicating gifts to faithful minifters to preach them. 
" Flechier. Ser. torn. ii. Pentecote." 

* Love to God is peaceable, &c. Monf. Claude alludes, I pre- 
fume, to that fine description of divine wifdom in S. James iii. 
17. " The wifdom, that is from above, is firft pure, peaceable, 
gentle, and eafy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, 
without partiality and without hypocrify." The apoltle defcribes 
the^ two excellent qualities mentioned by our author. Divine 
wildom is eafy to be intreated, eupeithes obfequious and it is alfo 
direcl) impartial and Jtncere^ adiakritos kai anupokreTos. 
The word of God, the feed of this righteous fruit, is fown in 
peace by pacific men. The confcience of an upright man is in- 
flexible, and his religion is exempted from the laws of complai- 
fance. Barclay s preface to his apology for the people called 
Quakers has been always admired for comprehending moft of 
the beft arguments for religious liberty, and his addrefs to his 
majefty Charles II. is equally admirable for its fincerity, St. 
James' direct complaifant wifdom is beautifullyexemplified there. 
Complaifance is always a crime when it betrays confcience. 



( 342 ) 

12. Real love Is always aftive. Its tranquillity 
is not negligence, it is lively and energetical, always 
in peace but always in action ; like the heavens, 
whence it came, without noife, in profound filence, 
perpetually moving and inceflantly fhedding benign 
influences, * it is not content to feek God in his tem- 
ples only : but it purfues him in houfes, chambers, 
and clofets, it rifes after him to heaven, it enjoys him 
in the heart, where it entertains and adores him, it 
goes even to feek him in his members, and chiefly in 
the poor, whofe fecret neceffities it enquires, and en- 
deavours to relieve. 

Finally, One of the greateft evidences of love to 
God, v&^fpontaneous obedience, not waiting for chat 
tifements to awake us, after we have fallen into fin : 
but returning immediately to repentance. Indeed^ 
tardy repentances, which come after we have exhau- 
fted the patience of God, and drawn the ftrokes of 
his rod upon us, are much more likely to be effects 
of nature than of love to God. Seif-love has fo 
great a fhare in fuch a condud, that, if we do not at- 
tribute our repentance wholly to it, we muft in great 

* The heavens move mfdence. A fine image of operative mo- 
■ideft love. 

What call we, then, the firmament, Lorenzo ? 
— Call it the breaft-plate of the true high-prieft, 
Ardent with gems oracular^, that give, 
In points of higher! moment, right refponfe ; 
And ill negle£ted if we prize our peace. 
— -They rove for ever, without error rove ; 
Confufion unconfufed ! nor lefs admire 
This tumult untumultous ; all on wing ! 
In motion, all 1 yet what profound repofe t 
What ferved afiion, yet no noife ! as aw'd 
To filence, by the prefence of their Lord 
Or hufh'd by his command, in love to man, 
And bid let fall foft beams on human reft, 
Reftlefs themfelves. — — 

N'ght-Tfougks. n. 9. 



( 343 ) 



part. Yet, it is certain, when repentance does not 
flow wholly from love to God, it is not wholly 
heavenly and fpiritual, it is a compound of heaven 
and earth, divine faith and human prudence ; and fo 
much as it has of nature and finful felf-intereft, fa 
much it lofes of its worth and excellence. Genuine 
love does not then wait for carnal felicitations, nor 
till affii&ions inform us of our ftate, it freely comes 
to our aid, and conftrains us to return to God, even 
before we feel the effects of his indignation. So 
much for the characters of love. * 

* Characters of love. The holy fcriptures abound with charac* 
ters, and are able thoroughly to furnifh the man of God. There 
are characters of individuals— as, Abraham was the friend of 
God, James ii. 23. — Job was perfect and upright, one that 
feared God and efchewed evil, Job i. 1 . — Stephen was full of 
faith and power, Acts vi. 5. 8. — Deacons were men of honeft 
report, full of the holy Ghoft arid wifdom, Acts vi. 3. — Ser- 
gius Paulus was a prudent man, Acts xiii. 7 — Elymas was full 
of all fubtilty and mifchief, an enemy of all righteoufnefs, Acts 
xiii. 10. 

There are characters of nations — as, the Chaldeans are a bit- 
ter and hafty nation, terrible and dreadful, Hab. i. 6, 7. — The 
Cretians are always liars, evil beafts, flow bellies, Titus i. 12.—* 
Romans were filled with ail unrighteoufnefs, &c. Rom. i. 2g 0 
— Jews refted in the law, and made their boal! of God, &e 0 
Rom ii. 17. 

There are characters of virtues, as 1 Cor. xiii. Jam. iii. 17* 
■ — and of vices, James iii. 15. 1 Tim. v. 8. vi. 10, &c. &c. 

To characterize is to paint, a flight defect lofes the likenefs 9 
and afmall addition produces a caricature. This method of dif* 
culling a fubject, therefore, requires great caution and attention, 
a cool judgment and a fteady hand : but well executed it is a 
mode of treating a fubject, that produceth excellent effects, and 
difcoveis, perhaps fooner than any other, the man of ripe and 
regular judgment, and honeft heart to his auditors. I mall add 
only one fliort example. 

Mr Saurin, who frequently ufes this method, gives the divers 
characters of a virtue, in a fermon on the love of our country. 

" Neh.ii. 3. Why mould not my countenance be fad, when 
the city, the place of my fathers fepulchres lieth wafte, and the 
gates thereof are con fumed with fire. By uniting the various 



( 344 ) 



la regard to the emotions included in the words 
patient waiting , you may remark, ift. that the com- 
ing of Jefus Chrift being the fubjecT: in queftion, the 
expectation of a believer is a true and real hope, di- 
rectly oppofite to the expectation of the wicked, 
which is a fear. The latter confider Jefus Chrift on 
this occafion as their judge, and enemy, who will 
avenge himfelf, punim all their fins, and plunge 
them for ever into perdition. Believers, on the con- 
trary, confider him as their head, their hufband, their 
faviour, who will come to raife them from duft and 
mifery, and to exalt them to his glorious kingdom. 
The wicked in their foreviews refemble the devils, 
who, at Chrift's firft appearance exclaimed, let us 
alone, ivhat have we to do with thee, thou Jefus of 
Nazareth? art thou come to deflroy us? but the righ- 
teous imitate thofe, who attended his public entry into 
Jerufalem, Hosanna, faid they, blessed is he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord. 

2* This expectation is accompanied with an holy 
and ardent defire, as being an expectation of the 
greateft bleflings. Come Lord Jefus, fays the church, 
Lord Jefus come. Such was David's expectation, 
when he was among the Phililtines ; as the hart 
panteth after the water-brooks, sopanfeth my soul 
after thee> O God. The defire of a believer is not 
lefs fervent, or (to fpeak more properly) it is far 
more ardent, when he meditates on his entrance in- 

circumflances, which we have mentioned, and by connecting the 
words of our text with the preceding and following verfes, we 
find in Nehemiah's zeal for the public good, and in his love for 
his country, I. a fpirit of devotion. 2. a fpirit of reformation. 3. 
a fpirit of mortification. 4. a fpirit of prudence. 5. a fpirit of vi- 
gilance. 6. a fpirit of firmnefs. 7. a fpirit of difintereftednefs. 
Seven characters of true zeal for the public good, and of a man's 
love for his country." Torn* iv./ 5 'amour de lapatrk. 



( 345 ) 

to the heavenly Jerufalem, where we (hall hunger 
and thirst no more, for the lamb shall feed us, and 
shall lead us to fountains of living waters. What 
the firft appearance of Chrift in the flefh was to the 
ancient church, that his fecond manifeftation is to 
us, with this difference, that then he was to appear 
in grace, whereas now we expect him in glory- 
then he was to appear in the form of a fervant^ and 
in the likenefs of finful flefh : but hereafter he will 
appear in the form of God y thinking it not robbery to 
be equal with God. As he was then the defire of all 
nations ■, how mould he not now be the defire of all 
believers ? 

3. This defire is accompanied with an holy inquie- 
tude, almoft like what we feel, when we expect an 
intimate friend, of whofe coming we are fure; but 
are uncertain about the time : or if you will, fueh 
as an oppreffed and enflaved people feel, while they 
wait for a deliverer ; or fuch as an affectionate con- 
fort feels, while fhe waits for the return of her lord. 
On thefe occafions days and hours move flowly, 
time is anticipated, futurity is enjoyed, and there is 
a prelibation of the expected pleafure. This is the 
holy inquietude, which St. Paul attributes to the 
creatures in general, faying, they groan and travail 
in pain together for the earnest expectation of the 
manifestation of the sons of God. How much more 
then mull believers do fo ? 

4. But this inquietude does not prevent our pof- 
fefjing our fouls in patience, for it does not proceed 
to murmuring : but fubmits to the will of God ; 
knowing that times and feafons are in his own pow- 
er, if he tarry wait for him^ as St. Paul after Hab- 
bakukfays. Heb. x. 37. that is, be not impatient, 
do riot murmur, for he will certainly come 7 and will 

Xx 



( 346 ) 



not tarry. They are the profane only, who fay, 
where is the promise of his coming ? for since the 
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation. We feel then 
an inquietude, but an inquietude blended with sub- 
mission to the will of God. Why, fays the believer, 
art thou cast down, O my soul? zvhy art thou dis- 
quieted within me ? hope thou in God, for I shall 
yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance 
and my God.* 

5. This expedation neceffarily includes a holy 
preparation^ and fuch a preparation as relates to the 
majefty of him whom we expecl:, the greatnefs of 
the judgment, that he will come to execute, and the 
eternal benefits, of which we hope to partake.^ We 
muft not imitate that wicked fervant in the parable, 
who faid my Lord delays his comings and who, un- 
der cover of that delay, beat his fellow-fervants. 
When Efther was to appear before Ahafuerus, Ihe 
fpent many days before hand in preparing herfelf, 

* " Inquietude is blended with fubmiffion to the will of God ." 
God himfelf is the object of a chriftian hope, and eternal life is 
therefore eagerly expecled, becaufe God is. to he enjoyed. 
" Which hope we have as an anchor of the foul, both fure and 
ftedfaft, and which entereth into that within the vail. Heb. vL 
19. that is, hope terminates on God, who inhabiteth heaven, of 
which the holy of holies was a fhadow. 

f Hepe prepares. Agreeable to this is the faying of St John, 
i Ep, iii. 3. " Every man, that hath this hope in him; purifieth 
himfelf, even as he is pure j" that is, be takes his ideas of purity 
from Jefus Chrift, and prepares to meet him with a fpecialview 
to that kind of purity, which will belt agree with the inflexible 
juftice of his judge- This grace, hope, which is ufually account- 
ed the loweft degree of chriftian moral excellence, is alone fu- 
perior to all the higheit Pagan virtues, and produces far nobler 
effe&s. To what arduous fervices hath it excited the people of 
God! Indeed, hope, if it have a large object, is always a vigor- 
ous, bold, enterprifmg difpofition. It is fo, when its obje<ft is na- 
tural: what muft it be with fuch an object as eternal felicity J . 
a felicity altogether fupernatural and divine ! 



( 347 ) 



adorning herfelf with her moft coftly habits, that 
Ihe might appear before him in a proper manner. 
Such is the waiting of a believer, he employs all his 
life-time to prepare for that folemn hour, when eter- 
nity will begin. * 

* A Chriflian employs all his life to prepare for eternity. We have 
no book on this fubjed in Englifh, that I have ever ieen, beyond 
Baxter's faint's everlafting reft. It is a body of heart-divinity, a- 
bounding with the moft animating fentiments, and all calculated 
on Mr Claude's plan of making every day preparatory to ulti- 
mate happinefs in heaven. *' Thou fayeft, fays this excellent 
man, thy comfort is all in Chrift : but, I muft tell thee, it is a 
Chrift remembered and loved, and not a Chrift forgotten, or 
only talked of, that will folidly comfort." Saint's rejt ) Part iv. 
lntroducl. 

The fecond advent of Jefus Chrift, of which our author fpeaks, 
is confiderable in three points of light, t. As it regards each in- 
dividual, this our divines place at death, 2. As it regards a fu- 
ture, more glorious ftate of the church on earth. A multitude 
of prophecies exhibit this o'bjedk to our hope. 3. As it regards 
future, final, general judgment. A very honeft laborious di- 
vine of our own has remarked twenty events, which he calls 
" natural preparations for the deftruction of Antichrift, and for 
the revival of primitive Chriftianity." Some of thefe events 
follow. 

" 1. The revival of learning in Europe upon the retreat of 
the Greeks, with their ancient books, from the eaft into the weft, 
at the taking of Conftantinople by the Turks. 1453* 

2. The invention of printing 

3. The recovery of liberty by ne Swifs Cantons, and after- 
ward by the Dutch, 

4. The Proteftant reformation oegun by Luther, 1 517. 

8. Difcoveries in natural philofophy, by the Royal Society— 
by Mr Boyle— by Sir I. Newton, and others, which have broken 
all pretences to Atheifm and irreligion from philofophy, and 
ftrongly confirmed the foundations of true religion, the being 
and providence of God, by the certain phenomena of the natu- 
ral world. 

9. The erection of feveral focieties— for promoting chriftian 
knowledge, &c. &c. 

1 o. The converfion of the ftudies of divines from fchool-di- 
vinity, &c, 

12. Modern tyrannical impofltions on the consciences of men 
wearing off by degrees. 

XX2 



( 348 ) 



You might eafily take the characters of vices 
from this pattern of characterizing virtues ; however, 
I will add an example on avarice * taking for a 
text Heb. xiii. 5. Let your converfation be without 
eovetoufnefS) and be content with fuch things as ye 
have. 

1. Avarice is a difpofition fo grofs, that it obfcures 
the underftanding and reafon of a man, even fo far 
as to make him think of profit, where there is nothing 
but lofs, and imagine that to be ceconomy, which is 
nothing but ruin. Is it not in this manner, that a 
covetous man, inftead of preventing maladies by an 
honeft and frugal expence, draws them upon him- 
felf by a fordid and niggardly way of living j and by 
this mean brings himfelf under an unavoidable ne- 
ceffity of confuming one part of his fubftance to re- 
cover a health, which by an excemve parfimony he 
has loft. There are even fome, who bring inevitable 
death upon themfelves, rather than fpend any thing 
to procure neceffary relief, and are impertinent e* 

16. The tranflation of the crown of Great Britain from po- 
pifh to proteftant fucceflbrs." 

I have not tranfcribed the whole lift of events mentioned by 
this writer, ] am not fure that I have not tranfcribed too many. 
It was peculiar to this induftrious good man to mix reverie with 
-religion. Literal Accomp. of Scrip, Proph* By WilL Whifton. 

* Avarice is a vice. Avarice is thus defined by an accurate 
writer. " Even things inanimate often raife emotions accom- 
panied with defire j witnefs the goods of fortune, which are ob- 
jects of defire almoft univerfally; and the defire, when immo- 
derate, obtains the name of avarice.'*' 

An immoderate love of money is an extreme oppofite to pro- 
digality, the firft faves all-, the laft fpends all. A virtuous ufe of 
money is a narrow path, that lies between thefe two extremes. 
Moralifts affirm, that of the two evils avarice is the greatefr. 
Profufenefs, fay they, may be reformed by poverty: but avarice 
is incurable. An extravagant man benefits others, while he im- 
poverifhes himfelf : but a mifer neither profits himfelf, nor any 
other perfon, &c.&Co 



( 349 ) 



nough to imagine that riches had better be without 
a poffeffor, than a porTeffer without riches ; as if man 
were made for money, and not money for man. * 

* Avarice blinds reafcn. We will not here collect trite examples 
of irrational parfimony. Moral writers abound with them. 
They tell us of one, who by will properly executed left all he 
had to himfelf — of another, who, when he found himfelf a dying, 
difcovered no concern about that : but was extremely difcon- 
certed at the approaching expence of his funeral — and of a third, 
who hung himfelf in a penny cord to fave the charge of dying 
under the direction of a doctor. We wave thefe, and we will 
remark the wonderful power of intereft over the understandings 
of minifters in church-controverfy. The difpute between con- 
forming and non-conformifts exhibits a fad example of this. I 
do not fcruple to put a thoufand abfurd pofitions to the account 
of an underftanding blinded by intereft \ for, had thefe very pc*- 
fitions been profefled by the puritans, perfecuted by the crown, 
and every where appeared in mean and contemptible garb ; mult 
they have been preached in a barn, printed in a cellar, and pro- 
fefled at the peril of all, that men hold dear, is it credible thefe 
pofitions would have had fuch defenders ? Truth, and truth on- 
ly, can abide all thefe fiery trials. What convi&ion are folitary 
arguments like to produce in a mercenary man, who is to have 
five thoufand a year for not believing them ! 

Here follow fome of thefe pofitions. " The magiitrate is em- 
powered to govern the confciences of his fubjects, Private per- 
sons have no right to judge, they are not matters of their own 
actions, nor ought they to be governed by their own judgments: 
but they ought to be directed by the public confcience of their go* 
vernors. If the magiftrate impofe any thing finful, he, and not 
the people who fubmit to the impofition, is accountable to God 
for it." Parker EccL Pol. 

" When governors enjoin ceremonies in religion plainly, and 
diametrically oppofite to the law of God, it is a virtue in the peo- 
ple to fubmit to them," Hickeringill. Greg. Pater. 

" It is fafer to err, that is, to fin, with our church-governors, 
than to feparate rightly from them.'' Long. Cont. Hales. 

" The people ought to fubmit to their church -governors, al- 
though a doubtful confcience may dictate the contrary 
Whomdyke Pond, et Menf. 

The writer, who relates and confutes thefe abfurdities, laughs 
at the cant of doubtful confciences, as it is applied to the non- 
conformifts. Church-champions debated at that time of day the 

rights of fcrupulous confciences doubting confciences — and 

fo on j and^when the civil powers obliged them to ceafe braw- 



( 350 ) 

But 2dly, this would be but little if avarice affected 
only the avaricious themfelves, it goes much farther, 
it renders a man ufelefs to fociety. It fub verts the idea 
of our living to aflift one another, for a covetous 
man is ufelefs to the whole world. He refembles 
that earth j of which S. Paul fpeaks, which drinketb 
in the rain, that comes often upon it, and be areth on- 
ly thorns and briars. He is an unfruitful tree, a 
gulph, which draws in waters from all parts ; but 
from which no ftream runs; or, if you will, an ava- 
ricious man is like death, that devours all, and re- 
ftores nothing ; whence it comes to pafs, that no man 
is in general fo much defpifed while he lives as a 
mifer, and no man's death is fo much defired as his. 
He never opens his treafures, till he is leaving the 
world, he therefore can never receive the fruits of 
gratitude, becaufe his favours are never conferred till 
his death. 

3d. Farther, this vice not only renders a man ufe- 
lefs to fociety; but it even makes him hurtful and 
pernicious to it. There is no right fo inviolable, no 
law fo holy, which he will not violate greedily to a- 
mafs riches, and cautioully to preferve them. How 
many violent incroachments ! how many criminal 
defigns ! how many dark and trealbnable practices ! 
how many infamies and wickedneffes have proceed- 
ed from this perverfe inclination ! If a covetous man 

ling, and to allow liberty of confcience, they came into thefe 
court meaiures, they protefted, becaufe companionate fouls, that 
they were! they really thought fomething mould be done for the 
eafe of doubting conferences. Thus rolls the ball along ! God 
knows, we, who belt know our own confidences, we have no 

DOUBTS. 

This article would fill a volume: but this is a note, and I de- 



( 351 ) 



is barren in kindnefles, he is fruitful in fins and ini- 
quities. There are no boundaries, which he cannot 
pafs, no barriers which he cannot readily go over to 
fatisfy his bafe paffion for money. * 

4th. By this we may already perceive how incom- 
patible this vice is with true faith, and with the ge- 
nius of chriftianity. *f The fpirit of chriftianity is a 

* Avarice is hurtful to fociety. The writer, who fir ft affirmed 
that private vices were public benefits, was certainly either a 
very luperficial reafoner, or a very bad man. Avarice, for ex- 
ample, fubverts both the throne of God and the bafes of human 
fociety. Trade depends on public faith, and public faith on 
private virtues. A mifer, by fubverting private virtues, fubverts 
public faith, and with it foreign and domeftic commerce. It is 
not without reafon, that divines enumerate the vices, which pro- 
ceed from avarice. Thomas Aquinas numbers feven — Proditio 
— Fraus — Fallacia— Perjurium — Inquietudo — Violentia— Ob- 
«iuratio contra mifericordiam. Ifidore makes out nine —and St. 
Paul affirms, 6< the love of money is the root of all evil. 1 Tim* 
vi. 10." 

•f Avarice is incompatible with Chriftianity, — Mr Saurin ob- 
serves, that though the fcripture fpeaks of fome monfters of 
mankind, who died feemingly in rebellion againft God, fuch as 
Pharaoh, Belmazzar and others, yet it is not for us to pronounce 
certainly concerning their eternal ftate, as it is not in our power 
to comprehend the treafures of divine mercy, " there is but one 
(adds he) one only without exception, of whom I would ven- 
ture to fay, he is certainly damned. This one is Judas, of whom 
Chrift faid, <k it had been good for that man, if he had never been 
born and the fin, which carried Judas to his own place, was 
avarice/' — The fcripture, which tells us of many fins, into 
which pious men have fallen, does not (as I recolIe£l) tell us 
of any one regenerate perlbn left to this \ nor is there fuch an 
awful mark fet upon any other fin as that above mentioned by 
Mr Saurin. Well might he bid his people pray, « Lord incline 
my heart unto thy teftimonies, and not to covetouluefs. Pfalv 
cxix. 36.** 

" Incompatible with the genius, or fpirit of chrift lanky.'' The 
gofpel may be truly called the liberality of God, and no man 
can (to ufe an expreffion of St Paul, i Cor. xii. 13.) drink into 
the fpirit of it, without imbibing a certain expanfibility of foul, 
a generofity of fentiment ; and this will operate, I do not fay a 
holy indifference to gain, and a free distribution of money : but 
a magnanimity of religious action, which the little tiny foul of 



( 352 ) 



fpirit of love and charity, always beneficent, always 
ready to prevent the neceffities of our chriftian bre- 
thren, kind and full of companion, inquiring into the 
wants of others, and, without afking, feeking means 
to prevent them. But avarice on the contrary makes 
a man hard, cruel, pitilefs, beyond the reach of com- 
plaints and tears, rendering the mifer not only jea- 
lous of the prosperity of his neighbour : but even 
making him confider the pittances of the miferable as 
objeds of his covetous defires. * 

5th. It is not without reafon, that St. Paul calls 
avarice, idolatry ; for one of the principal characters 
of this curfed inclination is a making gold and filver 
one's God. It is money, in effe&, which the covet- 
ous adores, it is this that he fupremely loves, this he 
prefers above all other things, it is his laft end, his 
life, his confidence, and all his happinefs. He, who 
fears God, conlecrates to him his firft thoughts, and 
devotes to his glory and fervice the chief of his cares, 
to his interefts the whole of his heart, and for the reft 
commits himfelf to the care of his providence. It 

a bigot can never comprehend. I doubt whether a mercenary 
bigot have a foul. It mould feem, he has only a hole to hide 
money in . Serioufly, I cannot account for the partial felfifhnefs, 
the unfeeling principles of fome, who are reputed men of emi- 
nent piety, and who yet are actuated by motives of intereft, that 
tend to perfecution. Covetous fervants of generous matters how 
dare they monopolize the deity, and coolly commit the reft of 
their brethren to deftru£Hon ! Such pretenders to chriftianity, 
and fuch were formerly in this country the papifts, and after- 
wards the high church faction, would ruin a nation to fecure a 
party. Strangers to benevolence, they were fons of violence, 
and, if they could obtain their own fafety, they never confider- 
ed what their fafety coft the reft of mankind. 

* The mifer covets the poor marts pittance. This circumftance 
aggravates the crime of avarice, and the difpofition is beautifully 
depided in Nathan's parable, 2 Sam. xii. 1. &c. and as finely 
exemplified in Ahab's conduct to Naboth, j Kings xxi. 1. &c. 



( 353 ) 



is the fame with a covetous man in regard to his 
treafures, he thinks only of them, he labours only 
to increafe and preferve them, he feels only for 
them, he has neither reft, nor hope, which is not 
founded on his riches, he w r ould offer incenfe to 
them, could he do it without expence. * 

6th. It is furprizing, and fometimes fufficiently 

* A mifer defies gold. 
— For fordid lucre plunge we in the mire? 
Drudge, fweat, thro' ev'ry fhame, for *ev'ry gain, 
For vile contaminating tralh ; throw up 
Our hope in heav'n, our dignity with man ? 
And deify the dirty matur'd to gold ? 
Ambitiorij atf rice, the two demons thefe, 
Which goad thro' ev'ry flough our human herd, 
Hard-travell'd from the cradle to the grave. 
How low the wretches ftoop ! how lteep they climb ! 

Thefe demons burn mankind 

Night Thoughts, n. 6. 

St Paul calls avarice idolatry, " Eph. v. 3.5. Let not covet- 
oufnefs be once named among you. A covetous man is an ido- 
later.'' There will appear a fmgular propriety in thefe words, if 
we obferve the people, to whom they were addrefTed. Let not 
covetoufnefs be once named among you at Ephefus, for this 
vice would fubvert your religion. Covetoufnefs fupports the 
idolatrous worfhip of Diana, which brings no fmall gain to 
Demetrius, and other craftfmen, who by their craft get wealth: 
but a covetous man among you is as weak as he is wicked, he 
ac~ts on the principles of an idolater, and has not fenfe to per- 
ceive the community, in which his principles may be reduced to 
practice. See A6ls xix. 24, 25. 

The church of Rome, which is evidently an idolatrous church 
(fee vol. I. page 183, note 2.) has chofen to arrogate to itfelf the 
character of fuperlative holinefs. The laft mark of diftin&ion, 
it mould feem, that could have been thought of for fuch a com- 
munity ! Pope Paul III. about 1538, appointed nine dignitaries 
to examine and report the date of the papal church, in order to 
reformation, if neceflary. Thefe commiilioners drew up a lilt 
of abufes, and delivered it in form to the pope. The firft abufe, 
and that from which, as from the Trojan horfe, all the reft pro- 
ceed, is, that " the cope's will is the peoples' law." 



( 354 ) 

diverting, * to fee in what manner all the other in- 
clinations of a mifer, good and bad, virtues and vices, 
his love and his hatred, his joy and his forrow re- 
fpecT: and obey his avarice. They move or reft, aft 
or do not act, agreeably to the orders, which this 
criminal paffion gives them. If he be naturally 
civil, mild, and agreeable in his converfation, he will 
not fail to lay alide all his civilities, and good man- 
ners, when his avarice tells him he may get fome- 
thing by doing fo : and, on the contrary, when he 
has received fome injury, when fome infult has been 
offered him, which is a juft ground of refentment, 
you may fee in an inftant his wrath is removed, and 
all his vehemence abated, in hope of a little money 
offered to appeafe him, or in fear of a fmall expence 
to gratify his refentment. If an objedT; of public 
joy, or forrow offer itfelf to his view, fimply confi- 
dering it in a general view, he will be glad or forry 
according to the nature of the thing in queftion ; 

" Avarice is diverting." I will notprefume to fay in what 
cafes it is proper for a minifter of Jefus Chrift to render vice ri- 
diculous, and fo to excite the rifibility of mankind againft it : 
but I will venture to affirm, fatire is one bloodlefs weapon of the 
chriilian warfare, and we have many examples of its ufe in fcrip- 
ture se Behold ! the man is become as one of us, to know good 
and evil ! now perhaps he may put forth his hand, and take al- 
io of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever!" Gen. iii. 22. 
" Cry aloud, for he is a God \ v i Kings xviii. 27. ' No doubt 
but ye are the people, and wifdom mall die with you !' 5 Job xii, 
2. " Ye fuffer fools gladly, feeing ye yourfelves are wife ! 
Receive me as a fool, that I may boaft myfelf a little. Are they 
Hebrews ? So am I. Are they minifters of Chrift ? (I fpeak 
as a fool.) I am more.'' 2 Cor. xi. 19, 16, 22, 23. " I heard 
a voice from heaven, faying, Reward Babylon, the great, even 
as (he rewarded you. Double unto her double. In the cup, 
which fhe hath filled, fill to her double. Give her torment and 
forrow. She faith, I fit a queen, and am no widow, and mail 
fee no forrow. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy 
poftles and prophets !" Rev, xviii. 4, 2 S 6, 7, 2c. 



( 355 ) 



butfhouid this occafion of public joy intereft him 
everfo litle, or in any manner prejudice his preten- 
fions, all on a fadden you will fee all his joy turned 
into forrow. In like manner, when a public calamity 
gives him an opportunity of gaining any thing, all 
his forrow is turned into joy. If he ardently loves 
any one he will love him no longer, if he begin to 
coft him any thing ; avarice will turn all his love 
into indifference and coldnefs. If reafon and com- 
mon honefly oblige him to be of a party, who have 
juftice on their fide, he will maintain, and even ex- 
aggerate their rights, and defend , the equity of them 4 
while his purfe is. not engaged : engage his purfe, 
and it is no longer the fame thing ; what was juft is 
become now unjuft to him, he has quickly whys, and 
howevers in his mouth — but, however, we were, 
miftaken in fuch a point, — why mould we be obfti- 
nate in fuch, or fuch a thing? &c. * 

In fine, his avarice gives the colour and tint to 
every fubjecl, it is the fole rule, and mealure, it 
makes things good or bad, juft or unjuft, reafonable 
or unreafonable according to its pleafure. Crimes 
are no longer crimes, if they agree with avarice, 

* " Avarice governs the tempers of interefted men, and di- 
rects their actions in public events." Were we to apply this to 
church-intereft, and to exemplify it byhiftory, we could not 
choofe a period more proper than that from the reftoration of 
Charles II. to the death of queen Ann. The feveral turns of 
the times, the variety of temper difcovered, the veering about of 
church-men according as the wind of intereft blew, are finely 
defcribed, for the greater part of the time, by our excellent his- 
torian Neal, of whofe fidelity no party has any juft caufe to 
complain, except that of the Baptifts. (That they have, their 
hiftorian Crofby hath moft clearly fhewn, in his hiftory of the 
Baptifts, and particularly in his preface to it.) The difpofition 
of too many of the clergy of thofe times is properly enough ri- 
diculed in the well-known humourous fong called The Vicar 
of Bray, 

Yy 2 



( 356 ) 



virtues are no longer virtues, when they oppofe it* 
She reigns over the ideas of a mifer s mind and the 
emotions of his heart fole arbitrefs in the judgments 
of his mind, fole dire&refs in the confultations of his 
heart, fole govern efs of all his paffions. * Arifto- 
tle's definition of nature can be no where better ap- 
plied, fhe is the principle of motion and of reft; for 
fhe does all that the centurion in the gofpel did, fhe 
fays to one Go, and he goeth, to another Come, and 
he cometh, Do this, and he doth it : yea ihe goes 
farther than the centurion went; for fhe fays 
Paufe, and all things paufe, Ceafe, and all things 
ceafe to be. *f 

* " Avarice reigns over a mifer." Mr Claude compares a- 
varice to an abfolute emprefs extending her defpotifm over an 
abjecl: Have. The books of Ecclefiaftes, and Proverbs, affimi- 
late avarice to feveral things, each Hgnificant and expreffive ; the 
following is very beautiful in its kind. Eccl. vi. 3. M An un^ 
timely birth is better than a mifer.'' 

Prov. xvii. 8. "A gift is as a precious {tone in the eyes of 
him that hath it ; whitherfoever it turneth it profpereth." A 
bribe, like a diamond, fparkles in the eyes of interested men, and 
money in all places, and on all occafions will prevail with 
them. 

One of our divines, difcourfing on the inhumanity of the 
prieft and Levite, mentioned by our Lord, Luke x. 31, 32. well 
obferves — " that it is unfair to tax the whole body of the clergy 
with avarice, and inhumanity — that at the acceflion of Conftan- 
tine great riches, and with them great temptations to avarice 
poured into the church — that too many chureh-men, and par- 
ticularly tliofe in the church of Rome, efpecially the religious 
fraternities, had been fad examples of avarice — that it was a fin 
more fcandalous in them than in others— but that, as there were 
fome Zachariahs among the priefts, and fome BarnabaiTes among 
the Levites, fo there were fome liberal men airong the Romiih 
clergy, and more in other communities — that foldiers, magis- 
trates, and merchants had difgraced war, polity, and trade with 
avarice — but that it would be unfair to blame the whole order 
of either — and that there was nothing in the miniilry itfelf to 
excite avarice : but quite the contrary," &c. Beaufobre Difc. 
fur Nov.Teft.D. r* 

I As we cannot form an idea of love, hope, or avarice in the 



( 357 ) 



IV, 

Observe the Relation of one Subject to 

ANOTHER. 

For example, always when in fcripture God is 
called a Father •, the relation of that term to chil- 
dren is evident, and we are obliged not only to re- 
mark the paternal inclinations, which are in God 
towards us, and the advantages which we receive 
from his love : but alfo the duties to which we are 
bound as children of fuch a father. The fame may 
be faid of all thefe exprelfions of fcripture, God is 
our God — we are his people — he is our portion-^ 
we are his heritage — he is our ma/ler—>~vfe are his 
fervants — he is our 6ing-~-we are the fubjecls of 
his kingdom — he is our prophet or treacher-*\ve are 
his difciples— with many more of the fame kind. 
When we meet with fuch fmgle and feparate, they 
muft be difcuffed in relation to one another, and 

abftraft, or independent of a perfon, it fhould feem the charac- 
ters of vicesj or virtues would be belt defcribed in their fub- 
jecls, where fcripture affords examples. Where all the cha- 
racters of a vice, or a virtue are not to be found in one perfon, 
feveral examples may be united to give a full defcription of the 
article in queftion. lull defcription is extremely difficult : but 
what an encouragement to reflect, that it is not in the power of 
human nature to love vice, or hate virtue, appearing in their 
own colours ! 

Mr Saurin charafterifes patriotifm in the perfon of Nehemiah, 
and covetoufnefs in the unhappy Judas, After a juft but terri- 
ble defcription of the vice in the man, — declaring, that he trem- 
bled at the idea of fuch a monfler — and exclaiming with Virgil, 
O execrable love of money ! and fo on— he afks, whether this o- 
dious picture refemble Judas only ? he goes on, and compares 
his hearers with Judas, till he pities Judas, and turns all his in- 
dignation againfl them. His defign is to excite a perfect: hatred 
of avarice, and thereby to deliver his hearers from its guilt and 
power at once. Thefe applications fometimes produce great 
effects. 



( 358 ) 

this relation muft be particularly confidered. Thus, 
when the kingdom of God, or of Jefus Chrift is fpo- 
ken of, all things relative to this kingdom muft be 
confidered — as its laws— arms — throne— crown--- 
fubje£ts— extent of dominion-— palace where the 
king refides— &c. So when our myftical marriage 
with Jefus Chrift is fpoken of, whether it be where 
he is called a bridegroom, or his church a bride ; 
you mould, after you have explained thefe expref- 
fions, turn your attention to relative things — as the 
love of Jefus Chrift to us, which made him confent 
to this myftical marriage — the dowry, that we bring 
him, our fins and miferies — the communication, 
which he makes to us both of his name and benefits 
—the reft, that he grants us in his houfe, changing 
our abode — the banquet at his divine nuptials — the 
inviolable fidelity, which he requires of us — the right 
and power he acquires over us — the defence and pro- 
te&ion which he engages to afford us — but, when 
thefe relative things are difcuffed, great care muft be 
taken neither to infifton them too much; nor to de- 
fcend to mean ideas ; nor even to treat of them one 
after another in form of a parallel: for nothing is 
more tirefome, than treating thefe apart, and one af- 
ter another, They muft, then, be aflbciated toge- 
ther, a body compofed of many images muft be 
formed, and the whole muft be always animated 
with the fenfible, and the fpiriftiah I think, a 
preacher ought to content himfelf with making one 
fingle obfervation, or, at the moft, two, in cafe the 
relative things are two numerous to be collected in- 
to one point of view. In fuch a cafe you muft en- 
deavour to reduce them to two clafles : but in two 
different orders, and always make the difference per- 



( 553 ) 



ceptible, fo that it may not be faid, you have made 
two observations of what was naturally but one. % 

V. 

OBSERVE WHETHER SOME THINGS BE NOT SUP- 
POSED, WHICH ARE NOT EXPRESSED, 

This is a fource of invention different from the 
former, for the former is confined to things really re- 
lative : but this fpeaks in general of things fappofed^ 
which have no relation to each other. For example* 
when we fpeak of a change, what they call the ter- 
minus a quo neceffarily fuppofes the terminus ad 
quern : and the terminus ad quern fuppofes the termi- 
nus a quo % 

* ColleB relative ideas into one point of view. The direct contrary 
is the practice of too many, whofe whole attention feems turn- 
ed to the dividing, and fo diffipating, lofmg, and if I may 
fpeak fo, gaming away the fenfe of the text. No preachers are 
fo given to this method as they, who delight in an allegorical 
way of preaching. The damage done to religion by it is incre- 
dible. The fathers allegorized. Porphyry of old, and Woolftor* 
of late, with many others alike ill affected to the truth, took, or 
pretended to take them at their word, and, by ruining their fenfe 
of a miracle, pretended to have ruined the real fenfe of the facred 
hiftorians, who reported the miracles of Chrift ; and they tri- 
umphed, as if they believed themfelves. Whence came all thefe 
mock triumphs ? Whence come they ftill ? Moft certainly from 
the unguarded irrelative aflbciations of ideas of fome expofitors. 
Give one the refurrection of Lazarus for his fubject, and he will 
preach concerning regeneration, becaufe regeneration is elfe- 
where called a refurrection. Give him a leper, and he treats of 
a iinner. Give him a handful of meal, or a crufe of oil, two 
young pigeons, a bunch of hyflbp, or a fcarlet line, and you 
may fit down, and prepare to hear him difcufs a whole body of 
divinity, although thefe articles are no other way related to his 
do&rine than as they ferve to illuftrate it. 

* Implication differs from relation. The chief ufe of this topic 
is illujlration. Hypothetical elucidation and illuftration are very 



( 360 ) 



A covenant fuppofes two contra&ing parties — a 
reconciliation effefted, or a peace made, fuppofes 
war and enmity' — a victory fuppofes enemies, arms, 
and a combat — life fuppofes death, and death life — 
the day fuppofes night, and the night day — fome- 
times there are proportions, which neceffarily fup- 
pofe others, either becaufe they are confequences, 
depending on their principles, or becaufe they are 
truths naturally conne&ed with others. It is always 
very important to underftand well what things are 
fuppofed in a text ; for fometimes feveral ufeful con- 
fiderations may be drawn from them, and not unfre- 
quently the very expreffions in the text include 
them. * 

beautiful : but hypothetical reafoning, that is to fay, arguments 
grounded on fuppofition are inadmiffible in a fevere inveftigation 
of truth. 

* Some propofttions neceffarily fuppcfe others. The Juftinian code 
of canon law anathematizes Eunomians, who baptized by fmgle 
immerfion eis mian hatadusin baptizomenous. This canon 
has the force of authentic hiftory, and we are obliged to fup« 
pofe, that fome chriftians in the year 3 83, in which year the 
canon was made at Conftantinople, did actually adminifter bap- 
tifm by immerfion, and by fmgle immerfion. Cod. Can. Juftin, 
Chriftoph. Juftel. edit. Gebhard. Theodor Meierf. Can. clxx. 

The fame council decreed that Arians, Novatians, Sabbata- 
rians, and other heretics fhould be reftored to church- com- 
munion, on condition of their abjuring all herefies, and deliver- 
ing up all their books, which were not agreeable to the received 
notions of the holy catholic and apoftolic church. Here again we 

'muft neceffarily fuppofe that fome chriftians judged for 

themfelves in matters of religion — — that they wrote and pub- 
limed books againft the general popular creeds— and that the 
pretended apoftolic church impofed terms of communion dif- 
ferent from thofe of fcripture, making their own creeds, and not 
the facred fcriptures, rules of orthodoxy. Can. clxx. 

So again, the council at Laodicea, held in the year 364, de- 
creed that no pfalms of private compofition, idiotikots psal- 
moys, {hould be ufed in the church. This implies, that fome 
churches did ufe pfalms or hymns of private compofition in 
public divine worfhip. Can. clxiii. 



( 361 ) 



For example. Rom. xii. 1 7. Recompence to no 
man evil for evil. In difcuffing this text you may 

All our divines obferve, that there is a lingular propriety in 
the anfwers, which our Lord gave the various feels among the 
Jews, that came to him with their queftions, in this point of 
light. He fuppofed certain data, which each party held, and re- 
plied accordingly. Mod divines allow only three principal feels 
among the Jews at Chrift's advent : but Triglandius, profeflbr 
of divinity, and of Jewifh antiquities, has, I think, clearly proved 
the exiftence of a fourth, denominated Karaites, that is, Scriptu- 
rljls, becaufe they rejected traditions, and received the holy 
fcriptures, as confident proteftants do now, as the file and fuf* 
ficient rule of faith and practice. '■> 

Our profeflbr. thinks, thefe were the people called Scribes 
— lawyers, in the New Teftament, that is to fay, people, who 
made the written fcriptures their rule, in diftinclion from the 
Pharifees, who held traditions as of equal authority with the fa- 
cred writings. By embracing all the Old Teftament they were 
diftinguilhed from the Sadducees, who held only the books of 
Mofes, as of divine authority. And they were dilHnguimed 
from the EJfenes by inhabiting towns and cities, and by holding 
preferments, in common with the reft of their countrymen, while 
the Eflenes, it is well known dwelt in tents remote from pub- 
lic places. Thefe fciipturifts are diftinguifhed from the Phari- 
fees, In fo faying thou reproacheft us alfo. : Luke xi. 45. Acts 
xxiii. 9. " The fcribes that were of the Pharifees part,arofe, &c." 
that is, the Scripturifts took that fide, which the Pharifees took 
in St Paul's controverfy. Our Lord is fuppofed to praife fome of 
thefe men, who praclifed what they taugnt, Mat. xxiii. 34. xiii. 
52. And to reprove others, who facrificed the profeffion of their 
own principles to their finful fecular love of thofe riches, titles, 
and honours, which the court-party, the Pharifees had to be- 
llow. Mat. xxiii. 2. Luke xi. 45, &c. 

This excellent piece of facred criticifm elucidates many paf- 
fages of fcripture, and places the propriety of many expreffions 
of our Lord in a beautiful point of light, all on the principle, 
with which we began this note, fuppofing proportions, and 
taking them up as data. Jacob Triglandii Diatribe <U Sefta Ka- 
raorum. 

It is the height of injudicioufnefs to fetout with a fuppofition 
not allowed. For example. A pious writer publifhed a piece 
1 691, entitled " The truth, which God hath fhewn unto his fer- 
vant Richard Stafford " Here, it mould feem, the reader is to 

fuppofe— that holy fcripture isimperfecl and that chriftians 

need new revelations^ and have them— but thefe are not to be 



( 362 ) 



very properly obferve the truths, which are implied, 
or fuppofed in the words. As ift. The dij order 
into which fin has thrown mankind, fo that men are 
expofed to receive injuries and infults from each o- 
ther. A fociety of finners is only a fhadow of fo- 
eiety, they are actually at war with each other, and 
like the Midiantifh army, turning every one his 
fword againft his companion. The fpirit of the 
world is a fpirit of difperfion rather than of aflbcia- 
tion; Different interefts, diverfities of fentiments, 
varieties of opinions, contrarieties of paffions make a 
perpetual divifion, and the fruits of this divifion are 
infults and injuries. It may be faid of each in fuch 

fuppofed, and confequently Richard Stafford's difcoveries are 
for his own amufement. 

Thus another entitles his book, " An EfTay againft Arianifm 
and fome other Heresies." Here that is fuppofed, which is 
actually to be proved, that Arianifm is a herefy. If there be fuch 
a thing as moral herefy, the railer is the heretic. Maittaire agattifi 
W 'hiflon, 171 1. 

That inimitable chriftian, Dr Gauden, whofe " foul was 
perfectly poffeffed with horror at the death of king Charles 1 . 
wrote a Steliteutic, Feb. 10, 1648, in an extacy of fighs, tears, 
and indignation, fignally marked with fad drops of his pafhonate 
heart, on an occafion in which no ink could be black enough, or 
have too much fait, vinegar, gall or aqua-fortis in it; and thir- 
teen years after, even in 166 1, finding it: to have fomething in 
It of a confufed rapture, not mifbecoming fo intenfive a grief, 
and fo pious impatience, was perfuaded by his printer to pub- 
liih it as his legitimate iffue, and was content that his name 
Ihould be called upon it, intending by it to prove, that the man, 
the chriftian, the king, the faint, the martyr, whom JudafTes 
betrayed, whom Jews deftroyed, whom cannibals devoured, had 
beams of divine majefty in him, which daily conquered all e- 
clipfings, that either his own misfortunes, or their malice call 
upon him — and farther, that the fin of beheading king Charles 
queftionlefs exceeded in many refpe&s that of Chrift's cruci- 
fiers." Now in all this, tyro, what is fuppofed ? what ? thou 
limpleton ! why, that eminence of learning, fmcerity, and piety 
qualified the dean of Boc.king for thebifhopric of Exeter I Fudet 
hac opprobria did I 



( 363 ) 



focieties, as of Ifhmael in the prophecy, his hand is 
againji every man and every mans hand againjl him. 

2. We muft not imagine that faith, and the dig- 
nity of a Chriftian calling raife the difciple of Chrijl 
above injuries : on the contrary, they expofe him 
oftner to evils than others ; as well becaufe God him- 
ielf will have our faith tried, that we may arrive (as 
the fcripture fpeaks,) at heaven through many tribu- 
lations ; as becaufe a Chriftian profeffion neceffarily 
divides believers from infidels. 

The world and fin form a kind % of communion 
between the wicked and worldly, which produces a 
mutual forbearance and friendship ; but there is no 
communion between a believer and an unbeliever 
any more than between light and darknefs, Chrift 
and Belial. Thence come all the perfecutions of 
the church, and thence will good men continue to 
meet with oppofition from the wicked to the end of 
time. Jefus Chrift when he fent his apoftles, did 
not fail to apprize them of this ; he faid, / fend you 
forth as fheep in the midji of wolves ; and again, If 
ye zvere of the world the world would love his own, 
but becaufe ye are not of the world, therefore the 
world hateth you. 

You may make an obfervation on each of thefe 
fuppofed truths, and, having eftablifhed the apof- 
tle's precept by mewing that private revenge is con- 
trary to the laws of chriftianity, and incompatible 
with true piety, you may obferve a third fuppofed 
truth. 

1 hat the gofpel not only forbids refentment and 
revenge ; it even commands us to pardon offences ; 
and, farther, obligeth us to do good to our enemies ; 
and to pray for our perfecutors, according to the 
precept of Jefus Chrift, Love your enemies, blefs 



( 364 ) 



them that curfe you, and pray for them, that defpite-* 
fully ufe you : and, according to the doctrine of St, 
Paul in another place. If thine enemy hunger feed 
him, if he thirjl give him drink. 

It remains that you take care in treating fup- 
pofed truths, ift, not to fetch them too far, and to 
bring them about by long circuits of reafoning. A- 
void this for two reafons; firft, becaufe you would 
render your difcourfe obfcure by it; for every body 
is not capable of feeing truths, which are very 
diftant from the text : and, fecondly, becaufe by this 
means you might bring in all the whole body of di- 
vinity into your text, which attempt would be vi- 
cious, and contrary to the rules of good fenfe. Of 
fuppofed truths, you muft choofe the moll natural, 
and thofe, which lie neareft the text. * 

* « Choofe natural fuppofed truths," Thus bifhop Flechier, 
in a fermon concerning the rich man, who faid, " I will pull 
down my barns, and build greater, and there will I bellow all 
my goods •, and I will fay to my foul, Soul, thou haft much goods 
laid up for many years : take thine eafe, eat, drink, and be mer- 
ry " The rich man does not propofe to employ his fortune 

in faction. ... He does not intend to increafe his eftate by in- 
croaching on his neighbours — nor to get richer by extortion and 
ufury — he does not mean to trouble and perfecute good people, 
who do not live as he doth— nor does he defign to give himfelf 
up to a fordid avarice— or to oftentation and pomp — only " foul 
take thine eafe." 

The Lord feems to defcribe an Epicurean in the text, and, 
though he does not exprefs all, that the preacher obferves, yet 
nobody, the leaft attentive, can doubt the implication of it, 
Flech. fer. fur Y Oblig. de 1' Aumone, torn. ii. 

u Unnatural fuppofttions . Some divines have dealt in ft thefe 
things of difhonelty" in an open, barefaced way, others in a me- 
thod clofe and covert : but they only u commend themfelves to 
men's confeiences in the fight of God, who, renouncing thefe 
inuendoes, not walking in craftinefs, nor handling the word of 
God deceitfully, make the truth manifeft." 2 Cor. iv. 2. Dr 
Paniei Featly publifhed a violent, falfe, abufive piece againft the 
Baptifts, whom he mortally hated, and at the beginning of the 



( 365 ) 



In the fecond place, do not enlarge on implied 
truths; it is proper, indeed, that hearers fhould 
know them: but they are not principal articles * 

And thirdly, take * care alfo that thefe fuppofed 
things be important, either for inftrudion in gene- 
book a plate reprefentative of the people, againft whom he 
wrote, performing the ordinance of baptifm. Minifters the ad* 
miniftrators, and both men and women the receivers of baptifm, 
are represented as Hark naked in a river, and the minifters are 
thrufting the people's heads down forward into the water. Such 
a fight had never been feen fince the world began, and if Dr 
Featly fuppofed, the baptifts adminiflered the ordinance fo, we 
are obliged to fuppofe, he knew nothing about the matter. 

Another of thefe trickfters wrote in 1647, and publifhed in 
1 68 1 f another prudent Dr Gauden) a piece of fixteen quarto 
pages, entitled Ihe AJfembly Man, with defign to vilify the af- 
fembly of divines, who were moft of them paft anfwering before 
the book was publiftied. Here is a plate of an A/fembly Man* 
Under his feet lie four volumes, called Common Prayer, Cafuifts, 
Councils, Fathers — In his hand are the two ends of a rope, call- 
ed jure divinoy which runs through the loops of five large bags, 
in the firft of which is 4s. per diem — in the fecond le&ure — in 
the third fequeftered benefices — in the fourth citizens good 
wives — in the fifth intereft money. On the table lies a bundle, 
called articles againft delinquents— and over his head on a (helf 
lie four volumes, entitled Directory — Concordance— Geneva 
notes —Ordinances, votes, diurnals. A great many unnatural 
fuppofitions are here made ; we do not wonder at a buffoon for 
making them •, but we are furprized to fee grave hiftorians and 
divines pretending to derive true intelligence from them. They 
ought to know the merits of a caufe, and (to ufe the language of 
one of that age,) to " execrate the book for the fake of the raf- 
cal in the title-page." Sir John Berkenhead. Aflembly 
Man. 

* " Do not enlarge on implied truths." That is to fay, whe- 
ther you fpeak briefly or diffufively on implied articles, do not 
lay any great ftrefs on them, they mould rather adorn than fup- 
port your reafoning. A fingle epithet properly placed may con- 
tain weighty argument ; and, on the contrary, no wordy cover- 
ings of a fuppofition can turn probable implication into clear de- 
monftration. " Epithets, fays one, mull be varied according to 
a fubjecX In foliciting a king for an office, or in thanking 
him for a nomination, it would be abfurd to begin an addrefs to 
him with, moft powerful and invincible prince 5 it (hould run 
moft bountiful and munificent, 



( 366 ) 



ral, or for cafting light particularly on the text, or 
for confolation, or for the corredion of vice, or prac- 
tice of piety, or fome ufeful purpofe, otherwife you 
would deliver trifling impertinencies under the name 
of implied truths. 

VI. 

Reflect on the Person speaking or acting.* 
For an example, let us take the laft mentioned 

f iS Reflect on the perfon fpeaking." Erafmus enlarges on 
this article, which includes— family — country — fex— age — edu- 
cation — body, as beautiful or deformed, ftrong or weak — for- 
tune— condition—mental abilities — particular itudies — connec- 
tions—conduct — n ame — &c . 

Family. John viii. 37. (C l know that ye are Abraham's 
feed: but ye feek to kill me — 39. If ye were Abraham's chil- 
dren, ye would do the works of Abraham— 40. Ye feek to kill 
a man, that hath told you the truth, this did ■ ot Abraham — 42. 
If God were your father, ye would love me — 44. Ye are of your 
father the devil." 

Country. Deut. iv. 7. " What nation is there fo great, who 
hath God fo nigh unto them ?— 8. What nation is there fo 
great, that hath ftatutes and judgments fo righteous ?" — Col. iii. 

In the new man, there is neither Greek nor Jew, barba- 
rian, Scythian, bond nor free *, but Chrift is all and in all" — 
Phil. ii. 15. " Be blameleis and harmlefs, the Sons of God, 
without rebuke, in the midft of a crooked and perverfe na- 
tion.'' 

Sex. Gal. iii. 27, 28. u As many of you as have been bap- 
tized into Chrifl, have put on Chrift, there is neither male nor 
female ; for ye are all one in Chrifl: Jefus." . 

Age. Titus ii. 2. " Aged men mull be fober, grave, tem- 
perate, found in faith, in charity, in patience. — 3. Aged women 
mull be teachers of good things — 5 • Young women mull be dis- 
creet, chalte, keepers at home— 6. Young men mult be fober- 
minded" — 1 Pet. v. 5. u Ye younger, fubmit yourfelves unto 
the elder" — 1 Tim. iv. 12. "Let no man defpife thy youth." 

It would be eafy to enlarge this lilt by aflbrting texts with to- 
r/icks : but it may be more ufeful to obferve that each article is 
fubjedT; to ufe and abufe, that is to fay, arguments drawn from 
perfon are fcmetimes proper, and in forae cafes abfurd. 



( 367 ) 



text of St Paul, recompenfc to no man evil for eviL 
Here you may very pertinently remark, that this 
precept is more beautiful in the mouth of St Paul 
than it could have been in that of any other man. 
The reafon is this, he of all the men in the world 
had the greateft reafon for refentment upon worldly 
principles ; for never was there a man more perfe- 
cuted, never a man more unjuftly perfecuted than he; 
he was perfecuted by his own countrymen the Jews, 
perfecuted by the gentiles, perfecuted by falfe bre- 
thren, perfecuted by falfe apoftles, perfecuted when he 
preached the gofpel, perfecuted even by thofe, for 
whofe falvation he was labouring, perfecuted to pri- 
fon, to banifhment, to bonds, to blood ; how amia- 
ble then is fuch a precept in the mouth of fuch a 
man l-f 

f How amiable are exhortations to patience in the mouth of a per- 
fecuted man ! The beauty of a great number of paffages of fcrip- 
ture is highly fet off by reflecting on the perfons, whofe words 
they are. Thus, — All is vanity, and vexation of fpirit, Eccl. ii. 11. 
Who fays fo, a monk? No, I, the wifeft, the richeft, and the molt 
induftrious prince in the world, I who had genius to invent, 
fortune to purchafe, and induftry to execute, I, who built houfes 
planted vineyards, and fo on, I declare all the world is vanity in 
iifelf, and vexation to him, who places his felicity in it. 

Prov. xxi. It is better to dwell in a corner of the houfe top 
than with a brawling woman in a wide houfe. Who fays fo, a 
fellow of a college ? No, a.prince, whofe feraglio contained a 
thoufand women. I Kings xi. 3. 

Exod. v. Mofes told Pharaoh, Thus faith the Lord. Who 
prefumes to give language to God ? A man to whom the Lord 
had fpoken, iv. 1 . &c. and a man empowered to prove his mif- 
fion by miracles, iv. 30. He gathered the elders — fpoke the 
words— and did the figns. 

Job xxxvii. 23. We cannot find the almighty out. The utter- 
ing of this expreflion would be a difgrace to thofe, who never 
ftudy ; but how beautiful in the mouth of a man of foul, and 
of foul infpired too I See Job xxxii. 8. 

2^Cor. xH. 10. I take pleafure in perfections. Who are you, 
a rich, reputable, beneficed gentleman ? No, I, who have 



( 368 ) 



How forcible is fuch a precept fupported by one of 
the greateft examples we can conceive ! by the ex- 
ample of a man whofe intereft feems to dictate a 
quite contrary practice ! When we give fuch pre- 
cepts to the worldly, they never fail to fay to us, 
Yes, yes ! you talk finely ! you have never been in- 
fulted as we have ! had you met with what we have 
you would talk otherwife ! But there is no reafon 
to fay fo to St. Paul, any more than to Jefus Chrift, 
his mafter, the" author of this divine morality; for 
who was ever fo perfecuted as Jefus Chrift ? and af- 
ter him who fuffered more than his fervant St, 
Paul?* 

been beaten with rods — I, who have five times received forty 
ftripes, fave one, I glory in being perfecuted. 2 Cor. xi. 24, 25. 

2 Cor. xii. 11. I ought to be commended of you — I who 
gladly fpend, and am fpent for you, vex* 15. 

Solomon refers to this topic, when he fays, Excellent fpeech 
becometh not a fool, much lefs do lying lips a prince. Prov. 
xvii. 7. — And Nehemiah acted on it, when he faid, Should 
fuch a man as I flee ? Who is there that, being as I am, would 
go into the temple to fave his life ? Neh. vi. 11.— So Chrift 
fpoke to Saul, Acts ix. 4. Saul! Saul! why perfecuteft thou 
me ? — So the patriarch to his brethren. Gen. xlv .3. I am 
Jofeph. 

* Who fuffered more than St Pari P Perfecution has generally 
been on the profane fide, and piety on that of fufFerers. An 
excellent foreign divine takes occaiion from St Paul's inflicting 
blindnefs on Elymas, Acts xiii. to enquire whether perlons cal- 
led hereticks ought to be punifhed by minifters of the gofpel, 
and civil magift rates. "No, fays he, they may not — for their 
errors may be involuntary — erroneous opinions may beheld by 
men of upright lives— If they cannot believe fome doctrines, it 
is becaufe they cannot harmonize them with their own ideas, 
and if they cannot be perfuaded to profefs they do believe them* 
while they do not believe them, it is becaufe they cannot per- 
fuade themfelves to tell a lie— Men who dare not difguife their 
fentiments, deferve praife for their fincerity rather than blame 
for their zeal — The firft defenders of chriflianity forbore to per* 
fecute, pleaded for liberty* and promoted religion by perfuafion 
— Tertullian fays, Religion is a work of choice, it cannot be for- 
ced, nothing is more oppofite to it than force. {Sponte fufcip?. 



{ 369 ) 



2. You may alfo very properly remark, that to 
take a different view of the apoftle Paul, no man was 
more obliged to teach and love fuch a morality than 
himfdf, Why ? Becaufe of all thofe, whom God 
in his ineffable mercy had called to the knowledge 
of the truth, he had been the moft concerned in cruel 
efforts of rage againft God and his church ; all in- 
flamed with fury he went from Jerufalem to Da- 
mafcus to ravage the flock of Jefus Chrift. In this 
raging violence of his hatred, God made him feel his 
love, pardoned his fins, foftened his heart, and from 
heaven cried to him Saul^ Saul^ why perfecutejl thou 
me ?% Who then could be more obliged to preach 

debeat, non vi, Sec. ad Scap, cap. 2.) La&antius, and Auguftine in 
his wifeft days, fpoke the fame language — But why quote the fa- 
thers? A greater mafter, Jefus Chrilt decides the controverfy. He 
even left his own apoftles at liberty, Will ye alfo go away? John 
vi. 67. — He did more, he laid before them the fufferings, that 
they muft endure if they efpoufed his caufe, If any man will 
come after me, he muft take up his crofs. Mat. xvi. 24. Con- 
fider each of you, if you will go back, you may — If you follow 
me, it muft be by choice— It would degrade the gofpel to ufe 
force to fupport it, by fuch a conduct religion would feem to be 
deftitute of fufficient reafon and argument, and this would put 
it on a level with error and vice." Difcour. de Monfieur du 
Beaufobre. Paft. de l'JEglife, Franc de Berlin. Dilc. xxxiL 
Elymas. 

% Saul! Saul! why perfecutejl thou me P This is, affuredly, one 
of the fineft expreflions, that ever fell from the mouth of man. 
There is a fimilar paffage in Micah vi. 3. O my people ! what 
have I done unto thee ? Wherein have I wearied thee ? Teftjfy 
againft rne — What have I not«done for thee ? I brought thee 
out of the land of Egypt - 1 fent before thee Mofes and Aaron 
— Remember now what Balak afked — and what Balaam an- 
fwered, ver. 4, 5. Our divines are greatly divided concerning 
the circumftances attending St Paul's converfion. The moft 
probable account is thus ftated by the judicious writer laft quo- 
ted. — The converted Jews, being peffecuted at Jerufalem, fome 
of them fled to Damafcus, the capital of Syria, about ten or 
twelve miles from Jerufalem (fome fay feventy.) — Aretas 
reigned in Damafcus, and allowed the Jewifh high-prieft at Je- 

3 A 



( 370 ) 



mercy than this man, to whom God had fhewed ib 
much mercy? Might he not fay when, he 
gave thefe rules of morality, what he faid on another 
fubjecl:, I have received of the Lord that which I de- 
liver unto you, I have received the fame mercy, 
which I teach you. Add to this, the apoftle had not 
only met with pardoning love to an enemy on God's 
part, but he had alfo experienced it from the church. 
Far from rendering him evil for evil, far from aveng- 
ing his perfecutions, the difciples of Chrift reached 
out the arms of their love to him, received him into 
their communion, and numbered him with the a- 
poftles of Jefus Chrift. 

VIL 

REFLECT ON THE STATE OF THE PERSON 
SPEAKING OR ACTING. 

Thus in explaining l ThefT. v. 16. Rejoice ever- 

rufalem to exercife his jurifdiction in religious matters over the 
Jews who dwelt m his city — Thither, properly authorized, 
Saul was going on the prieft perfecuting bufmefs — near the 
city he and all his company heard feveral thunder-claps, atten- 
ded with feveral rlafhes of lightning— one of thefe ftruck Saul 
blind, and he fell flat on the ground, his face being toward the 
earth— In this ftate he lay, and had a heavenly vision. Acts xxvi. 
19. He was in an ecftacy, and forgetting for a while his body 
and fenfible objects held a'converfe with Jefus Chrift— none of 
his companions heard any other founds than thofe of thunder, 
Acts xxii. 9. — This idea does not diminifh the evidence of the 
miracle — for Jefus difcovered his knowledge of Saul's heart — 
Ananias had a fimilar vifion— Saul had full inftructions given 

him miraculous powers were imparted to him The 

apoftle'' s own full conviction, confirmed by all his^ fub- 
fequent conduct — all thefe prove the reality of his miracu- 
lous converfion God gave the law to the Jews by Mofes in 

thunder and lightning, a voice of words, and enfigns of glory, 
and fc he gave the gofpel to the Gentiles by PauL" Beaufohre 
Difc. xxx. Conv, de S. Paul, 



( 371 ) 



more, you muft not fail to confider the ftate of St 
Paul, when he wrote that epiftle ; for he was at A- 
thens, X engaged in that fuperftitious city, where as 
it is faid in the xvii. of A£ts> his fpirit was fir red in 
him, obferving the city wholly given to idolatry ; 
where he was treated as a b abler, a fetter forth of 
ft 1 range Gods, and where, in fhort, he was the obje£t 
of Athenian ridicule and raillery. * Yet, amid fo 

% St. Paul wrote to the Thejalonians from Athens. Mo ft learned 
men think, this epiftle was written at Corinth, whither the a- 
poftle went when he left Athens ; this, fay they, was in the 
twelfth year of Claudius, and the fifty-fecond of the Chriftian 
sera; this was the fir ft written of all his epiftles. 

* Athens exhibited many juft caufes of grief. What lover 
of morality, what fervant of God can help grieving at feeing 
the wretched ftate of this, the firft city in the heathen world ? 
Bad as we are, we are not equal to it. The idolatry and im- 
morality of Athens have left an everlafting mark of imbecility 
on mere natural religion, however cultivated and improved it 
maybe- Athens, the feat of all polite literature ; Athens, the 
tutor of fo many famous hiftorians* philofophers and poets; 
Athens, where one would have enquired as at the oracle of God; 
Athens, fays Paufanias, had more Gods, than all Greece befidel 
Athens celebrated the feafts of Bacchus, at which, fays Plato, I 
have feen the whole city drunk! At Athens, the myfteries of E- 
leufis were a part of religion 1 

St Paul was an object of Athenian raillery. Raillery is a 
(light low kind of fatire, and in religion it operates only on lit— 
tlejminds incapable of much reafbning. Pedants, who affect refine- 
ment of fentiment, and liberality of foul, and fo are above the 
dead-doing deeds of vulgar perfection, and. who at the fame 
time imagine themfelves the eldeit fons of mufes and graces, 
attaching I know not what ideas, to habits, hard words, and 
empty titles, the appendages fometimes of genius, and fometimes 
of infipidity and foily ; pedantick academics I fay, are wonder- 
fully adapted to raillery, and too often religion is the fubje£fc, 
being that with which they are leaft acquainted, Low wit is 
always contemptible; but it is fuperlatively fo, when it prefumes 
to buz, about religion, A great man fays, M a quotation out of 
Hudibras makes fome men treat with levity an obligation where- 
in their welfare is concerned as to this world and the next ; 
raillery of this nature is enough to make the hearer tremble." 
Addifon's Freeholder. 

3A2 



( 372 ) 



many juft caufes of grief, he exorts the TheiTalom- 
ans always to preferve their fpiritual joy; not that 
he meant to render them infenfible to the evils which 
he fuffered, nor to the affii&ions of the new-born 
church; but becaufe our fpiritual afflictions, I mean 
thofe which we fuffer for the glory of God, and the 

The noble author of the characlerefticks had the courage to 
attack chriftianity with this theatrical weapon* He pretended, 
ridicule was a tell of truth ; but his lordfhip has been com- 
pletely anfwered, and among his numerous victors, none more 
fully refuted the fophiftry of this pretence than Brown. If 
truth can be difguifed it may be laughed at, and here lies all the 
myftery. Socrates was mifreprefented, and that buffoon, A* 
riftophanes, rallied him out of his life. Jefus Chrift himfelf was 
ridiculed for pretending to royalty ; but what did the buffoons 
firft ? They underftood the principles of their art, and firft 
clothed him with a foldiers coat,' put a reed for a fceptre into his 
hand, a crown of thorns on his head, and then M bowed the 
knee before him, mocked, and faid Hail king of the Jews!" 
Mat. xxvii. 29. So Ahaziah, being hurt by a fall, and having 
fent mefTengers to an idol's oracle, who returned fooner than 
he expected, fneeringly aiked, Who fent you back? What man- 
ner of man was he? They as contemptuoufly replied, " A hairy 
man with a girdle of leather about his loins— a pretended man 
of God! What a pretence for fuch a fellow to make ! See 2 
Kings i. 7, 8, 9, ic. " Man of God ! the king faith, Come 
down. — If I be a man of God, let tire come down." 

Some, fay, " Shaftefbury contended not for the droll, and 
the buffoonifh ; but the humourous, the eafy and the facetious 
■ — that his opinion if fairly examined, was no more than this— 
that ridicule may be made of excellent ufe, either againft ridicule 
itfejf, when falfe and mifapplied, or againft grave, fpecious, and 
delufiye impofture." Bayle, Shaft. Rem. H. 

Let ridicule be called what it will, it ufes reafon in a very buf- 
foonifh manner, when it ufurps the throne of fober argument. 
Has Voltaire proved any thing by his Optimift ? or Swift by 
his Tale of a Tub? or Butler by his Hudibras? Where nothing 
is proved in religion nothing exifts, and where nothing exifts, 
ridicule hath nothing to illuftrate. On the contrary, where a 
fa ft is fairly afcertamed, ridicule may colour it, and illuftrate it, 
,and then, 



Ridentum dicere Verum 
Quidvetat? , Horat. Sat. i. 24, 25, 



373 ) 



good of his church, are not incompatible with peace 
and joy of confcience; on the contrary, it is particularly 
in thefe afflictions that God gives the moft lively joys, 
becaufethenhe beftovvson his children moreabundatit 
meafures of his grace, and more intimate commu- 
nion with himielf. Moreover on thefe fad occa- 
fions we generally become better acquainted with 
the providence of God, we feel an affurance that no- 
thing happens without his order, and that, happen 
what will, all things work together for good to them 
that love God. This gives us true reft, ajoy whichno- 
thing is capable of difturbing, * 

* Reflect on the ftate of the fpeaker, &c. Many divines 
confider the general ftate of man in a moral view, fourfold, as it 
is termed. The firft is a ftate of perfect innocence before 
the fall — The fecond is a ftate of total depravity under the fall 
— the third a ftate of begun recovery after regeneration — the 
fourth a ftate of perfect holinefs in heaven. Bolton's fourfold 
ftate of man. 

Mr Claude's rule includes more than the moral ftate, and 
comprehends every thing that goes to make up the condition, in 
which a perfon, who fpeaks or acts, may be. The propriety 
of every action depends on its exact fitnefs to all the circum- 
ftances of him who peforms it. Abraham offered to facrifice 
his fon: but he was immediately commanded of God to do fo, 
Gen.xxii. i, 2. his conformity to this command was his virtue 
— David flew the Amalekites, and left neither man nor woman 
alive, 1 Sam. xxvii. 9. but he had fufficient authority from the 
arbiter of life and death to dofo, Deut. vii. 1, 2. See iii. 2, 3, 
4. the Ifraelites borrowed jewels of (ilver and jewels of gold of 
the Egyptians, and never returned them, Exod. iii. 12. but they 
acted under the higheft authority, ver. 21. — There areinnume- 
rable actions of this kind, and an attention to circumftances is 
the only way of folvingthe difficulties, that attend an expofition 
of them. Strictly fpeaking, all natural actions, like all mate- 
rial beings, are neeeiTary, proper, ufeful, and laudable in cer- 
tain pofitions. The wifdom of man is to place and arrange them, 
" To every thing there is a feafon, and a time to every purpofe 
under heaven, a time to weep, a time to laugh — a time to mourn, 
a time to dance— a time to embrace, a time to refrain from em- 
bracing—a time to love, a time to hate— a time of war, a time of 
peace,'' &c. £ccl. iii, 1 to 8* 



f 374 ) 



VIII. 

Remark the Time of a Word or Action. * 
For example, St Paul in his firft epiftle to Timo- 

St Paul ufes this topic to elucidate that famouo theological 
enquiry concerning the future ftate of retribution, as it regards 
pagans— Jews— and Chriftians. " When God (hall judge the 
fecrets of men by Jefus Chrift, as many, as have finned without 
law, mall alfo perim without law, and as many as have finned in 
the law, mail be judged by the law. Tribulation and anguiih 
{hall be upon every foul of man that doth evil, of the Jew firft, 
and alfo of the Gentile." They mall be differently punifhed, 
becaufe they finned under different circumftances. Rom. ii. 
1 6, 12, 9.— If the defpifers of Mofes's law died without mercy, 
of how much forer puniftiment & all defpifers of Chr ill's gofpel 
be thought worthy? Heb. x. 28, 29. 

Thus he illuft rates the charity of the churches of Macedonia 
— they were liberal in a great trial of aifli&ion, and in deep 
poverty, 2 Cor. viii. 1, 2, &c Thus he enforces his requeft: 
to Philemon, thou oweft unto me thine own felf, 19. and re- 
commends Onefimus to him, not now as a fervant only; but a 
brother beloved, 16. — And thus St Peter heightens his account 
of the impiety of falfe teachers, and the mifery of backfliders* 
^2 Pet. ii. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. 

Here follows an exemplification of our author's rule, Acts 
xxiv. 25. The preacher having obferved from Jofephus the cha- 
racters of Felix and Drufilla, and having given a brief hiftory of 
his avarice, luxury and oppreffion, proceeds to admire the wif- 
<dom and courage of St Paul, his wifdom amid fuch a variety of 
fubjecls in ehoofing to fpeak of righteoufnefs to a covetous man; 
temperance to a man devoted to luxury ; and judgment to come 
to a man whofe government had been oppreflive ; having re- 
marked the courage of the prifoner, he adds, "My brethren, when 
men preach to eflablifh their reputation, when they feek their 
own glory inftead of that of Jefus Chrift, they choofe fubjecls, 
in which they can difplay their genius and flatter their hearers. 
Do they preach before a profeffed infidel ? they choofe to fpeak 
only of morality, and would blufh to mention the venerable 
words covenant, JatisfaElion. Do they preach before giddy, high- 
minded people, who would be offended if the duties of religion 
%vere prefied home? The whole fermon fliall confift of election, 
reprobation,and irrefiftible grace. Do they preach 'before'alafcivious 
court? the fubjecl: fhall be the liberty of the gofpel and the mercy 
<s£ God. There is an art-o allving (an art truly deteftabalej but 



( 375 J 



thy requires, that in the public fervices of the 
church, prayers fliould be made for a 11 men ; but 

an'arttoo well known in all ages of the church) there is an art of 
allying our own interefts withthofe of our miniflry, and without 
renouncing his character, a politic preacher will aim at har- 
monizing his preaching and his paffions. Servant of Jefus Chrift, 
and Have to his own intereft, he makes merchandize of Gotfs 
'word! Court preachers! public pefts! behold St Paul and bluui 
at your bafenefs! before Felix, before Drufilla he cries, the un~. 
clean Jhall not inherit the kingdom of God. In your pulpits he 
would have defcribed in lively colours innocence oppreiTed, the 
faith of treaties expiring, the Rhine overflowing with blood, the 
Palatinate fmoking in its own aflies!— but let miniflers fupport 
the dignity of their character, never had orators a finer oppor- 
tunity of being heard with attention never were fubje&s more 
fufceptible of a grave and fober eloquence than thofe of which 
they treat. They have themoft powerful motives to work with, 
and the ftrongeft paffions to work upon. They have an eternity 
of glory to promife, and an eternity of mifery to denounce.They 
are fent by a mafter, in whofe prefence all the kings of the uni- 
verfe are but as the fmall dujl of the balance. Behold. St Paul all 
penetrated with the dignity of his office? he forgets the gran- 
deur of Felix! he does more, he makes him forget himfelf! he 
makes him receive evert cenfure with refpedt! he preaches of 
righteoufnefiy temperance \ and judgment to- coine!" Sour in &r. torn, x, 
ser ftxieme. 

* " Remark the time of an expreffion or action." Time is 
an article of fo much confequence to the propriety of all pub- 
lic orations, that rhetoricians always lay it down as a principal 
rule. 

And Divines very juftly lay down the fame rule as of the ut- 
moit importance. And as every text contains a variety of 
matter, the preacher neither can, nor rauft attempt to difcufs all, 
and therefore, as he will be obliged to felect fome one article, it 
would be unpardonable to felecl that, which was leaft fitted to 
the time. , » 

I believe, it will not appear needlefs to prefs an obfervation of 
this article, when we confider how many abfurdities proceed 
from an inattention to it. 

i. They, who read fermons compofed by others, are very of- 
ten furprized into violations of time. A German divine fays, 
" One of thefe retailers of fmall ware having picked up an old 
homily compofed fome years before when the plague was raging 
in the country, preached it to his congregation on the Lord's 
Day. Toward tifre clcfe, having (harply reproved vice, he add* 



( 376 ) 



frft for kings and for thofe that were in authority. 
Here it is very natural to remark the time. It was 

ed " for thefe vices it is, that God has vifited you, and your fa- 
milies with that cruel fcourge the plague, which is now fpread- 
ing every where in this town." At his uttering thefe words the 
people were all fo thunder-ftruck, that the chief magistrate was 
obliged togo to the pulpit, and to alk him, "For God's-fake, Sir, 
pardon the interruption; and inform me where the plague is that 
I may inftantly endeavour to prevent its farther fpreading — The 
plague, fir !" replied the preacher, " I know nothing about the 
plague. Whether it be in the town or not, it is in my homily." 
Keckermanni Rhet. Ecclef. lib. ii. cap. poftrem. ii. 

2. They, who fpend all their time in confuting old errors, be- 
lieved formerly, but exploded now ; or in ftating, explaining, 
and eftablifhing fome truths, formerly denied, or doubted, or 
mifunderftood, but now generally believed by their auditors; 
they are inattentive to time, and are heard with difguft. Thefe 
preachers would ad with lefs impropriety, were they not to af. 
feci: to be the fole confervators of orthodoxy. 

3. The doctrine of time is very important on the fubject of 
prophecies-— on that of " miracles — extraordinary gifts — dreams 

■ — vifions — revelations— infpirations — &c. Pretenders to thefe 
miftake time in a manner very grofs indeed. There goes a pro* 
phecy about of Bifhop U frier's concerning the flaying of the 
witneffes," Rev. xi. — There are many miraculous events rela- 
ted by Fox of the Englifh reformers — There are many extraor- 
dinary and extravagant tales told in Clarke's lives of the Puri- 
tans — and, in (hort, there are enthufiafts in all our parties, 
though in none fo many as in the church of Rome. The very 
Deifts are Enthufiafts, witnefs the miraculous anfwer to Lord 
Herbert of Cherbury's prayer—but all thefe forget the time, in 
which they live ; for now they ought not to expect, nor the 
world to believe fuch information. In the famous difpute be- 
tween Dr Middleton, and his opponents, concerning the time, 
when miraculous powers ceafed in the chriftian church, four 
things are rendered very clear— 1 . That there had been true mi- 
racle s, otherwife there would have been no counterfeits — 2. 
That miracles afforded evidence very popular and pleafing — 3. 
That impofture very early infected chriftianity — and 4. That 
credulity is a great blemifh in a minifter, and propagates error 
and vice more than truth and virtue. 

Not to enlarge, we {hall only obferve, time elucidates many 
fcriptures. Lev. xviii. " Thou malt not take a wife to her lifter 
in her life-time," this law forbids polygamy: but it does not 
prohibit the marriage of the filter of a deceafed wife. — 2 Kings 



( 377 ) 



when the church and the apoftles were every where 
perfecuted ; when the faithful were the objects of 
the hatred and calumny of all mankind, and in par- 
ticular of the cruelty of thele tyrants. Yet none of 
this rough treatment could flop the courfe o£ Chrif- 
tian charity. St Paul not only requires every be- 
liever to pray for all men : but he would have it done 
in public, that all the world might know the maxims 
of Chriftianity, always kind, patient, and benevolent. 
Believers confider themfelves as bound in duty to all 
men, though men do nothing to oblige them to it. 
He was aware, malicious flanderers would call this 
worldly policy and human prudence, and would fay, 
Chriftians only meant to flatter the great, and to court 
their favour ; yet even this calumny does not pre- 
vent St Paul, he orders them to pray publicly, and 
jirjl for civil governors. We ought always to dis- 
charge our duty, and, for the reft, fubmit to the un- 
juft accounts that men give of our conduct *. 

v. 26. " Is it a time, to receive money P' — Ifaiah i. " Tfaiah faw 
a vifion in the days of Uzziah," &c. — Ifai. xi. 10. " In that day 
a root of Jefle mail ft and for an enfign."— Eph, ii. 12. "At that 
time ye were without Chrift" — 2 Sam. xvii. 7- i( The counfel is 
not good at this time"— Ifai. IV*. 6. « Seek the Lord while he 
may be found."— Phil. iv. i( Ye fent once and again to my ne- 
ceffity." — Jer. xxviii. 16. <c This year thou fhalt die,'' &c. 
&c 

* Example. Mr Saurin's obfervations on Peter's denial of 
Chrift, and Chrift's love to Peter are drawn from this fource. 
The time of Peter's denial makes his crime black indeed! the 
time of the lord's looking at him illuminates his looks! Hear 
our preacher. « At the very time, when Jefus Chrift was 
giving the tendereft marks of his love, Peter difcovered the black- 
eft ingratitude to him ; while Jefus redeemed Peter, Peter de- 
nied him ; while Jefus Chrift yielded to the bloody death of the 

crofs for Peter, Peter refufed to confefs him; but Jefus 

looks at him ! My brethren, what do thefe looks fay ! how elo- 
quent are thofe eyes ! never was a difcourfe fo effectual, never 
did an orator exprefs himfelf with fo much force? It- is the man 

3B 



( 378 ) 



IX. 

Observe place. «f 

St Paul fays to the Philippians, forgetting the 
things y which are behind^ and reaching forth unto 

of griefs complaining of a new burden while he is ready to fink 
under what he already bears. It is the beneficent redeemer pi- 
tying a foul ready to be loft ! It is the apojlle of our profejjion 
preaching in chains. In fine, it is the fovereign of the hearts of 
men, the almighty God curbing the efforts of the devil, and ta- 
king his conqueft away " 

Thefe four laft articles are the parts of the fecond divifion of 
the difcourfe. Saur. Ser. torn. i. furl' Abnegation de S. 
Pierre. 

f " Obferve place." Rhetoricians, after Ouintilian, put this 
article, place, under the head quantity, and the latter gives Ci- 
cero's oration for Milo as an example. 

Place is of great ufe in theology, both to prove and illuftrate. 
Mofes firft publifhed his million in the moft learned court in the 
world at that time, confequently later prophets had a right to 
glory that God fent Mofes and Aaron to {hew figns and wonders 
in the land of Ham. Pfal. cv. 26,27. — The prophets taught in 
public places before aflemblies of the whole nation, and herein 
they gloried over the affected privacy of falfe idol prophets. Ifa. 
viii. 19. (( Wizards peep, and mutter — xlv. 19. I have not 
fpoken in fecret, in a dark place of the earth" — Pfal. xl. 9. " I 

have preached righteoufnefs in the great congregation. " Je- 

fus Chrift publilhed his revelation in a place the moft likely in 
the world to detect a falfe prophet — Mat. ii. 1 • " Jefus was 
born in Judea'' — Luke iv. 15. " Jefus taught in their fynago- 
gues" — Mat. v. 1. " On a mountain'* — Mat. xiii. 1. " By the 
^ea-flde' , — John viii. 2. * c In the temple'' — Our Lord ufed this 
topic before the priefts at his trial. John xviii. 20. " I fpake 
openly to the world ; I ever taught in the fynagogue ; and in 
the temple, whither the Jews always refort, and in fecret have 
I faid nothing." — The apoftles bore witnefs of his refurre£tion 
on the day of Pentecoft in the very city where he had been put 
to death — in publick places— and in courts of judicature. Ads 
ii. 46. " They continued daily in the temple — v. 20. Go ft and 
and fpeak in the temple to the people all the words of this life — 
xxvi. 26. This thing, king Agrippa, was not done in a corner. ,} 
John hi. 23, " John was baptizing at Enon, becaufe there was 
much water." In all thefe, and fimilar paftages, place is 
prodf. 



( S79 ) 

thofe things, which are before, I prefs toward the 
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Chrift 
Jefus. The place where he writes this furnifhes a 
very beautiful confideration. He was then in pri- 
fon, at Rome, loaded with chains, and deprived of 
his liberty ; yet he fpeaks as if he were as much at 
liberty as any man in the world ; as able to ad: as 
he pleafed, and to difpofe of himfelf as ever: he 
talks of having entered a courfe, running a race, for- 
getting things behind, preffing toward thofe that 
were before, and, in fhort, of hoping to gain a prize ; 
allthefe are aclions of a man enjoying full liberty. 
How could he, who was in a prifon, be at the fame 
time on a race-courfe ? how could he run, who was 
loaded with irons ? how could he hope to win a 
prize, who every day expe&ed a fentence of death ? 
But it is not difficult to conciliate thefe things : his 
bonds and imprifonment did not hinder the courfe 
of his faith and obedience. His prifon was convert- 
ed into an agreeable Stadium, and death for the Got 
pel might well be confidered under the image of a 
complete victory, for a martyr gains an unfading 
crown as a reward of his fufferings. * 

Place ferves alfo to illuftrate. Deut. xxxiL 10. " The Lord 
Inftructed his people in the wafte howling wildernefs" — Amos 
viii. 12, 13. " Flee away, feer into the land of Judah, prophefy 
not again any more at Bethel ; for it is the king's chapel, and It 
is the king's court" — John iv. 6. " Jefus fat on the well'' — John 
ii. 2. " Both Jefus and his difciples, were called to the marriage 
of Cana, and his mother was there" — Acts xix, 21 . " Paul pur- 
pofed in the fpirit, when, he had pafled through Macedonia, and 
Achaia, to go to Jerufalem, faying, After I have been there, I 
mult alfo fee Rome." What a ftretch of foul ! 

* Reward of Martyrdom. The primitive Chriftians confide 
red martyrdom as the higheft dignity, to which a man could" 
afpire. 

3B2 



380 ) 



X, 

Consider the Persons addressed,* 
Let us again take S. Paul's words for an example, 

* Confider the perfons addreffed. A knowledge of the perfons 
addreffed is a branch of fcience effential to a minifter in feveral 
parts of his minifterial labours. For example. 

1. In Jiudying the holyferiptures* The propriety of much fcrip- 
ture language, efpecially that of the bold figurative kind can only 
appear by the genius of the people addreffed. See Ezek. xvi. 23° 
Joel ii. 2, &c. Nahum ii. iii. &c. — The equity and fitnefs of 
many mofaical injlitutes appear by a comparifon of them with the 
condition of the people- — The difcourfes of our Saviour, and the 
„epiflles of S. Paul are both more beautiful and more intelligible 
by this confideration — The theological fyftems of the Jews, the 
moral philofophy of the learned heathens, the mythology of the 
vulgar herd of pagans, and the conditions of primitive churches, 
all elucidate the doclrines of the new teftament. 

2. Knowledge of perfons addreffed is effential in the popijh and 
hierarchical controverfy. While thefe ceconomies are embraced 
by mercenary men, rewarded by ftate emoluments, and guarded 
by the fword, it will be but loft labour to addrefs dignified priefts 
on articles of farther reformation. It was an apt fimilitude, 
that an ingenious gentleman ufed concerning the popifh ceremo- 
nies retained in fome reformed churches under pretence of bring- 
ing Romanifts over to themfelves. " You refemble, faid he, a 
Hoating veffel fattened to a rock by a rope ; if you in the veffel 
think to pull the rock to you by the rope, you will find, on try- 
ing, a contrary effecx will - folloWo Hence that well-known 
faying of Bifhop Bonner \ when he heard that Cranmer and 
Ridley had retained fome ceremonies of the Roman church, he 
exclaimed, " Since our broth goes down with them fo well, they 
willgihortly feed upon the beef too 1" An exclamation rather low 
and unepifcopal : but, however, it was the molt prophetical vul- 
garifm that his lordihip ever uttered, as the after-hiftory of the 
Englilh epifcopal church plainly {hewed. See Lewis Du Moulin^ 
tibifup. 

3. Knowledge of perfons is effential to a minitter in addreffmg 
both the righteous and the wicked. No man addreffes the wicked 
fo forcibly as he, who bed knows human nature in general, and 
the condition of each finner in particular. Had our Dean Swift, 
who often went difguifed into low company toftudy human na- 
ture unmalked, made a holy ufe of his knowledge by reproving 



11 



( 381 ) 



Recompenfe to no man evil for evil, Rom, xii. 17. 
They, to whom the apoftle addrefled thefe words, 

and reforming fuch people, he might have been one of the moft 
ufeful minifters of his day. A man, who has feen human nature 
in fuch places is in pofleffion of a thoufand topicks not to be 
learned in higher life, where almoft all is trick and mafquerade, 
what Archbiihop Leighton fomewhere calls an interchange of va- 
nity and lies. The fame may be faid in regard to the pious part 
of an auditoryr What can a young fpark, who has no piety 
himfelf, nor one pious intimate in the world, fay to pious audi- 
tors worth their hearing ! Religion itfelf is difgraced by being 
in fuch company. To put a bible in fuch a man's hand is like 
hanging Sir Ifaac Newton's Principia about the neck of a bealL 
All other things may be difpenfed with : but a thorough know- 
ledge of the fingular exercifes of pious minds under conviction., 
converfion, temptation, affliction, in profpects of death and in re- 
trofpects of fin, can never be difpenfed with in aminifter of reli- 
gion, nor can he attain this knowledge without perfonal experi- 
ence. 

We often fpeak of a minifter's /peaking to the heart. The phrafe 
is fcriptural, and as Erafmus obferves, is there ufed for the fffl*. 
jolatory language of the go/pel, in diftinction from that of the law 9 
which convids, and condemns, See Kaiah xl. 2* Hof. ii. 14* 
Now this, as he adds, cannot be done but by a man, whofe own 
heart has been comforted by the fame confolation. " Nullus au- 
tem poteft loqui ad cor populi, nifi loquatur ex corde." De Rat. 
Cone, lib, i, The phrafe, fpeak to the heart, in modern ufe, ftands 
for that excellent talent, which fome minifters poffefs, of addref- 
fing the confeience, bringing home the matter to the man, fpeak* 
ing ad rem, ad hominem, what mail I call it ! It " divides afunder 
foul and fpirit, and is a difcoverer of the thoughts and intents of 
the heart." Heb. iv. 12. Such a minifter furrounds his auditor^ 
and wraps him up in convictions of fin, or in confolations of God t 
which are neither few nor fmail. 

3. Knowledge of perfons is effential to a minifter in enforcing 
duties. He mult diftinguifh hufbands, wives— mafters, fervants 
—governors, fubjects -parents, children, minifters, magiftrates, 
&c. and give to each his portion in due feafon, rightly dividing 
the word of truth. 

4. Finally, knowledge of perfons is efTential to cafuiflry. Cafes 
of confeience differ in different circumftances ; not that there is 
one gofpel for the rich, and another for the poor : but becaufe 
the fame God over all, being rich in mercy to all, requires different 
iervices in different circumftances. See Acts xxi. 20, 21. &c* 
sxi. 40, Gal. ii. 2. iv* 12, ao, &gs 



( S82 ) 



Were Romans, whofe perpetual maxim was violently 
to revenge public injuries, and totally to deftroy thofe, 
who intended to deftroy them, or had offered them 
any affronts ; witnefs the Carthaginians and Corin- 
thians. They totally deftroyed Carthage, becaufe 
Ihe had carried her arms into Italy by Hannibal's 
means, and had been upon the point of ruining 
Rome. Corinth they facked and burnt for having 
affronted their ambaifadors. You may alfo remark 
this particular circumftance ; that, although the Ro- 
mans had fucceeded in avenging their injuries, the 
empire owing its grandeur to fuch exceffes, yet their 
fuccefs did not hinder the apoftle from faying Recom- 
fenfe to no man evil for evil; becaufe neither exam- 
ples nor fuccefTes ought to be the rules of our con- 
dud:, but folely the will of God, and the law of 
Chriftianity. * 

XL 

Examine the particular State of Persons 

ADDRESSED/f 

For example, recompenfe to no man evil for evih 

* " The revealed will of God, and not the fuccefs of thofe 
who depart from it, fhouldbe a Chriftian's rule of action." This 
remark is of great confequence in theology. The whole book 
of Job feems to have been written with a view to this article. 
Job was afflicted. His friends thought, his condition a proof of 
his impiety. Not at all, replies Job, " The tabernacles of rob- 
bers profper, and they> that provoke God, are fecure. xii. 6. 

f Examine the particular Jlate of perfons addrejfed. Thus we ac- 
count for many feeming contradictions in fcripture. Mofes 
made a ferpent of brafs, Num. xxi. 9. Hezekiah broke it in 
pieces, becaufe, " in his days, the children of Ifrael did burn in- 
cenfe to it. 2 Kings xviii. 4. — One prophet fays, Blow the trum- 
pet in the new moon, and on our folemn feaft days, for this is a 



( 383 ) 



St. Paul writes to Romans : but to Roman Cbrijlian^ 
who faw themfelves hated and perfecuted by their 

fbtute for Xfrael, and a law of the God of Jacob, Pfalm Ixxxh 
3, 4. — Another fays, New moons and fabbaths I cannot away 
with, even the folemn meeting is iniquity. My foul hateth 
them, for your hands are full of blood. Ifai. i. 13, 15. — I faid 
indeed thy houfe mould walk before me for ever : but now the 
lord faith, be it far from me. 1 Sam. ii. 30— At what inftant I 
fpeak concerning a nation to deftroy it, if that nation turn from 
their evil, I will repent. Jer. xviii. 7, 8.— Man is juftified by faith 
without the deeds of the law. Rom. iii. 28. — By works Man is 
juftified, and not by faith only." James ii. 24. Thefe, and a- 
thoufand other paffkges, are harmonized only by an attention to 
the particular condition of the perfons addreffed. S. Paul beau- 
tifully calls this variety a change of voice. Gal. iv. 20. The fame 
heavenly inftruclor fpeaks : but fpeaks, fo to fay, in different 
tones adapted to the different tempers of the auditors. This no- 
tion of revelation is a veryjuft one, and as it authorizes our mi- 
nifters in varying their addrefTes to their hearers, fo it condemns 
thofe loofe, defultory declamations, which addrefs all, and fo af- 
fect none. 

The peculiar circumftances of the perfon fpeaking alfo ferves 
to account for many things, that fall under the immediate notice 
of theoiogifts, and at firft appear very unaccountable. We will 
exemplify a few. 

1 . Nothing is more common than to hear men of equal abili- 
ties affirm direBly contrary to one another on the fame fubjedh 
Til/of/on and Holcroft had been chamber -fellows at Clare-hall. Til- 
lotfon declared in his old age, " I do in my confcience believe the 
[epifcopal J church of England to be the beft conftituted church in 
the world." Ser. on 1 Cor. iii, 15. Holcroft thought, the epifco- 
pal church of England was an image of the beaft, as favage and 
more filly than the beaft itfelf. How are we to account for this 
variety ? Confider the condition of each fpeaker. The image of 
the beaft made TillotfonArchbifhop of Canterbury j and the beft 
conftituted church in the world was very near hanging Holcroft 
for non-conformity. 

2. Nothing is more frequently feen than the fame divine dif- 
fering from hhnfelf. Stillingfleet did fo. In his Iremcum, he 
declared that prefbyterian government was more conformable to 
fcripture and reafon than Epifcopacy — that Bifhops ought not 
to impofe any ceremonies, which have no foundation in fcripture 
— that fchifm was on their fide, who impofed ceremonies, and not 
on theirs, who refufed fubmiffion to them. But in his Anfiuer 
tofeveral late treutlfes > he calls thofe fchifmatics, who deny fub- 



( 384 ) 



fellow-citizens, and in general abufed by the whole 
world. Yet, however reafonable refentment might 
appear at firfb fight, the apoftle would not have them 
obey fuch paffions as the light of reafon, the inftind 
of nature, and the defire of their own prefervation 
might feem to excite. He exhorted them to leave 
vengeance to God, and advifed them only to follow 
the dictates of love. The greateft perfecutors of the 
primitive Chriftianswere the Jews, on whom the Ro- 
man Chriftians could eafily have avenged themfelves 
under various pretexts ; for the Jews were generally 
hated and defpifed by all other nations, and nothing 
could be eafier than to avail themfelves of that public 
hatred, to which the religion of the Jews expofed 
them. Neverthelefs, S. Paul not only fays in gene- 
ral Render not evil for evil : but in particular Re- 
compenfe to no man evil for evil. As if he had faid, 
Do not injure thofe, on whom you could moft eafily 
avenge yourfelves ; hurt not the moft violent ene- 
mies of the name of Jefus Ghrift, and the chriftian 

million to the government of the epifcopal church of England 5 
and adds, *' The conftitution of our church ftands upon this Jin- 
gle pointy all things are lawful, which are not forbidden/' 
Whence this difference ? The peculiar condition of the fpeaker 
is to be conlidered. The Irenicum was publifhed when the au- 
thor was minifter of one (ingle Sutton in Bedfordfhire- The 
Anfwer came out about 1 8 years after, when-i — what? God 
forbid we mould fay, men mould not live and learn : but it hap- 
pens very unluckily, when illumination and preferment come 
together ! 

Bifhop Stiliingfleet's opponents faid, the point on which his 
church itood, (( would make a pure fricaffee of religion, it would 
juftify the addition of oil, cream, fpittle, and fait in baptifm, and 
it would as much authorize a minifter to preach the gofpel with 
a helmet on his head, and a fword and buckler in his hand, as 
figns of our fpiritual warfare, as it would the crofs in baptifm. It 
is not enough in religion, that things arenot forbidden, they mull 
be commanded. Jer. vii. Le-zvis Du Moulin ubifupra, 



( 385 ) 



profeffion ; * thofe who have crucified your Saviour, 
and every day ftrjve to deftroy his gofpel. 

* " Hurt not thofe, who drive to deftroy the gofpel" Mr 
Claude does not mean here to inculcate the fenfelefs notions of 
pafiive obedience, and non-renftance, as too many of our di- 
vines have done from fuchpaflages of fcripture. In a letter to 
Monfieur Michaeli, fpeaking of the difputes in England, he fays, 
" If one party, being in power, would conftrain the other againft 
their conscience and judgment, the fchifm is certainly on the 
fide of the impofers." The queftion is, in fuch a cafe what 
ought the oppreffed to do ? Let us take an article of faith, and a 
rule of practice, and fee. " When a heathen child is baptized, 
he is changed within. He is brought to the font full of fm 
through Adam's difobedience : but he is warned from all his 
fins inwardly. The power of the holy Ghoft by the prieft's 
bleflmg comes upon the corruptible water of the holy font, and 
after that it can warn both body and foul from all fins by fpi- 
ritual power.'* This is part of an Eafter-homily, which wa3 
read annually in the church about 800 years ago. This I call 
an article of faith. Ab. Whelock. Bedse Hift. £ccl. Cantab, 
1644. p. 471. 

Here follows a rule of practice. At the elevation of the hoft, 
the ritualifts require the worlhippers of it to fay — " Soul o£ 
Chrift, fanftify me— Body of Chrift, fave me— Blood of Chrift. 
inebriate me — Water of Chrift's fide, warn me/' This is part 
of a form for adoring the holy facrament, publiftied in the hours 
of Salijbury. This I call a rule of practice. 

I can fuppofe this article, and this rule, to be (imply propofed 
to me by a clergyman of the church of Rome. The firft I do 
not underftand, the laft I do not approve, both deviate from my 
rule of faith and practice, the holy fcriptures. I, therefore, 
thank him for his friendly regard to my fpiritual welfare, and 
we part civilly. 

I can fuppofe them laid before me by Pope John XXII, along 
with a parchment grant duly executed of three thoufand days 
pardon for deadly fins, on condition of my complying. Again, 
I thank his holinefs for an offer fo generous : but I muft beg 
leave to decline accepting it, and we part 

I can fuppofe them laid before me with all the religious in- 
ducements to accept them, that arife from an intereft in the pa- 
pal community, fuch as, on one fide, the benefits of pardons, fu- 
pererogations, indigencies, jubilees, canonization, and fo on : 
and, on the other, the terrors of annual excommunication, denial 
of extreme unction, defertion in purgatory, and damnation in 



( 386 ) 



XII. 

Consider the Principles of a Word or 
Action*, 

For example. John y. 14. Behold ; thou art 
made whole,fm no more^ lejl a worjl thing come unto 

hell. lean conceive my felf unawed by all thefe, and acting 
rightly to perfift in judging formyfelf. 

I can go a ftep farther, and fuppofe my worthy friend the pope, 
finding me inconvertible by moti vestaken from his principles,chan- 
ging his mode of perfuafion, and pretending to convert me by 
motives taken accordingto ray own principles from fcripture.He 
fays, Jefus Chrift has put the government of my confeience into 
his hand, and required me to believe what he affirms to be true, 
and to perform what he commands to be done. He reads, and 
I reafon, till, at length, refenting his ufurpation of Chrift's au- 
thority, I fet my St Paul's epiftles againlt his St Peter's keys; 
and conform to the apoftle by diflenting from the pope. If any 
man teach otheriuife than the apoftles taught, and confent not to the 
whole fome -words of our Lord Jefus Christ, from such withdraw 
thyself. 1 Tim. vi. 3, 5. If there be two or three of us in the 
fame circumftances, we " congregate in Chrift's name," and, 
wherever be the place of our affembling, we expect to have him 
by his word and fpirit in the midft of us. 

All this is an affair of religion, confeience, reafon, argument, 
on both fides purely ecclefiaftical. But mould my brother John 
turn politician, intrigue at court, delude my king and perfuade 
him to confiscate my goods, to confine my perfon, and to con- 
demn me to death for my nonconformity to his noftrums, in 
fuch a cafe the doctrines of paflive obedience, and non-refiitance 
in matters of religion would come under confideration. The 
ftate of the queftion concerning my believing what I do not 
underftand, and my performing what I do not approve, would 
not be altered by being put into new hands, it would remain ex- 
actly as before, and what was my duty before would be my 
duty full. But what (hould I do with thefe new doctrines of 
paffive obedience, and non»refiftance ? I would open my eyes, 
fee the artifice of my opponent, affirm that they are, and they 
are not theological questions. As theological queftions, they are 
reprobated by every article of fchriftianity ; for in matters of 
faith and obedience we owe belief to none but revealed pro- 
pofitions, and obedience to none but divine commands. But 
theie doctrines, as they regard life, civil liberty, and property* 



( 387 ) 



thee. This was the language of Jefus Chrift to the 
man, wliGin he had juft before heaied of an infirmity 
of thirty eight years ftanding. Him Jefus now found 
in the temple. It is not imaginable, that this meeting 
was fortuitous, and unforfeen to Jefus Chrift, His 
providence, no doubt, conducted the man that way, 
directed him to the temple, w^hither he went himfelf 
to feek him. Examine, then, upon what principles 
Jefus Chrift went to feek this miferable finner, and 
you will find, i. He went in great love to the poor 
man. He went in that fame benevolence, which in- 
clined him to do good to all, who had need, and in 
every place, that he honoured with his prefence. Je- 
fus was, as it were, a public fource of benefits, his 

are not theological, but political queftions, they belong to fyf- 
terns of civil polity, and as they have no place in that fyftem 
of government, under which I live, for that confiders the peo« 
pie as the origin of power, and civil governors as the executors 
of a truft, fo t reje£t them. In fuch a free ftate I choofe to 
live, agreeably to my notions of civil government, the genius 
of my liberal religion, and the examples of the beft of politi- 
cians, " I will walk at liberty, for I feek thy precepts. I will 
fpeak of thy teftimonies before kings, and will not be albamed.'* 
Pfal. cxix. 45, 46. 

* w Confider the principles of words and actions," The doc- 
trine of principles is extremely important to a chriftian minifter* 
particularly in five cafes. I mu(l mention only five here for 
want of room. 

1 . In ftudying the letter of fcripture, that is the nature, and 
principles of conftrut~ting, and compofing, which prevailed with 
each writer in each compofition. 

2. The do£trine of principles is important in regard to the 
fenfeof fcripture, 

3. The doctrine of principles is of great confequence in church- 
government. Civil government has for its obj eel: civil liberty^ 
and a juft civil government takes no cognizance of mere princi-? 
pies. See vol. I. p. 247, note 7. 

4. Principles are of confequence in preaching. 

5. Principles of religion are eflential to the minifter of Chrift* 
All churches acl as if they thought an unprincipled minifter a 
curfe to his people, therefore all require real or pretended prin- 
ciples, 

3C2 



( 388 } 

hands every where beftowed beneficent gifts, and he 
even fought occafions, when they did not prefent 
themfelves, 2. He went by an engagement of an- 
cient love, which he had made for this paralytic: his 
fecond favour flowed from his firft, nor w r ould he 
leave his work imperfecl. Thus it is faid, in regard 
to his difciples, having loved his own, which zvere 
in the world, he loved them to the end. The bounty 
, of Jefus Chrift refembles that of his eternal father, 
who calls, juftifies, and in the end glorifies thofe, 
whom he firft predeftinated: and on this as on one of 
the principalfoundations, StPauleftablifheth our hope 
for the future, God having begun a good work in us, 
will perform it to the day of Chrift : and elfewhere, 
God is faithful, who hath called you to the fellow- 
Jhip of his fan* 3* It was by a principle of wifdom 
and forknowledge, that Jefus Chrift fought this pa- 
ralytick patient in the temple, in order to teach him 
his duty, to furnifh him with the means of doing 
it, and to give him a more particular knowledge of 
the friend who had healed him; for he well knew, 
that a tender faith, fuch as that of this man was, 
had need of frefh and continual aid, as a young 
plant needs a prop tp fupport it againft winds and 
ftorms. 

In like manner, if you had to examine thefe words, 
of Jefus Chrift to the Samaritan woman, Go and 
call thy hujband, John iv. You might examine 
the intention of Jefus Chrift in this exprefTion. * 

* Confider the intention of Jefus Chrift. Jefus Chrift often 
fpoke obfcurely to his difciples, and in parables. His intention 
in fpeaking fo was the moil wife and benevolent, that could be 
imagined. Had he only defigned to inform his difciples 
pf truths, he would have delivered his fentiments in the 
plaineft manner 5 but he intended to exercife their minds, tQ 



( 389 ) 



He did not fpeak thus, becaufe he was ignorant 
what fort of a life this woman lived. He knew, 
that, to fpeak properly, fhe had no hufband. It 
was then, i. A word of trial ; for the Lord faid 
this to give her an opportunity of making a free con* 
feflion, I have no hit/band. 2. It was alfo a word 
of kind reproof; for he intended to convince her of 
the fin in which fhe lived. 3. It was alfo a word 
of grace ; for the cenfure tended to the woman's 
confolation. 4. It was farther, a word of wifdom ; 
for our Lord intended to take occafion at this meet- 
ing to difcover himfelf to her, and more clearly to con- 
vince her, that he had a perfect knowledge of all the 
fecrets of her life, as he prefently proved by faying, 
thou haft well faid, I have no hufband, for thou haft 
had Jive hufbands, and he % whom thou now haft, is 
not thy hujband. * 

form in them a habit of thinking, refle£t^ng and reafoning, and 
fo to endear truths to them by giving them the pleafure of dis- 
covering them. Lazarus our friend fleepeth — Deftroy this 

temple-* Ye fhall fit on twelve thrones judging the twelve 

tribes. 

# Woman of Samaria. Bifhop Maul lion has a fermon on 
delaying converfion, from the fame paflage. Mr C. fpeaks of 
the principles of ChrinVs words to the woman. The bifhop 
treats of the woman's principles in her anfwers. " I remark, 
(fays he) three principal excufes, which (he makes ufe of to a- 
void accepting the merciful offers of Jefus Chrift. 1 . An excufe 
of Itation or condition. She is a woman of Samaria, and there- 
fore forbidden to grant what the Saviour afked of her, w how 
is it that thou — r -i afkell water of me, who am a woman of 
Samaria? 2. An excufe on account of the difficulty ; «« the 
well is deep, and there is nothing to draw with." Finally, an 
excufe on account of the great variety of opinions, which made 
it doubtful whether fhe fhould " worfhip with her fathers in 
that mountain, or, as the Jews faid, at Jerufalem. Let us hear 
ourfelves in this woman. The excufes which fheoppofes againft 
the grace of Jefus Chrift, are fuch as we every day oppofe a- 
gainft it, We pretend to find in our Rations of life reafons for 



( 39© ) 



Wete you going to explain the ninth verfe of 
the firft of Acts, where it is faid, When Jefus was 
taken up^ his difciples beheld him, it would be 
proper to remark the fentiments of the difciples 
in that moment, and to Ihew from what prin-^ 
ciples proceeded that attentive and earneft looking 
after their divine mafter, while he afcended to hea- 
ven, 

XIII, 

Consider Consequences. * 

Thus, when you explain the doctrine of God's 

a wordly conducX We can form excufes concerning difficulty, 
for we frame an impracticable idea of virtue. In fine, we find 
In pretended uncertainties, and contradictions concerning doc- 
trines, and rules of life, motives offecurity, which calm our con- 
fciences in the com million of the moft manifeft crimes. Let us 
confound thefe three excufes by opening the hiftury of our gof- 
£>el." Maifl Ser. Careme, torn. iii. S. troifieme. 

* Obferve confequences. By this method Silvanus, an ancient 
abbot of a monaitery, convinced a travelling monk of his erro- 
neous notions of two paflages of holy fcripture. The ftory is 
this. A certain brother came to the convent at mount Sinai, 
and finding the monks all at work, {hook his head, and faid to 
the abbot, Labour riot for the meat that periJJjeth f [John vi. 27.] 
Mary chofe the good part. [Luke x. 42.] Zachary faid the old 
abbot to his fervant, give the brother a book, and fhew him in- 
to acell.There fat themonk alone all day long. Atnight wonder- 
ing that nobody had called him to dinner, he goes to the abbot. 
Father fays he, don't the brethren eat to day ? O yes, replied the 
abbot, they have eaten plentifully. And why, added the monk, did 
you not call me? Becaufe, brother, replied the abbot, you are a 
fpiritual man, and have no need of carnal food. For our parts,God 
help us! we are carnal,weare obliged to eat,and therefore we work; 
but you, brother! you have chofen the good part, you fit and 
read all day long, and are above the want of meat that perilheth. 
Pardon me, father, I perceive my miftake. I do, fubjoined the 
old man; but remember, Martha is as neceffary a chriftian as 
Maiy. Apotheg. patrum. in Cotelerii Ecclefise Grsecse monu* 
ment, tom.i. 



( 391 ) 



mercy, it is expedient (at leaft fometimes,) %o re- 
mark the good and lawful ufes, which we ought to 

There are three remarkable modern inftances, mentioned in 
a book now before me, which the learned author did me the 
honour of fending as a prefent (a moft valuable one it is) a few 
days ago. " The fubverfion of freedom was the evident pur- 
pose of Mr Hume in writing the hi/lory of England. — X fear we 
may with too much juftice affirm the fubverfion of chrifiianity 
to be the object of Mr Gibbon in writing {< the hiftory of the 
decline and fall of the Roman empire. ,; --Mr Lindfey affirms* 
that the fathers of the firil three centuries, and confequently 
all chriftian people for upward of three hundred years after 
Chrift till the council of Nice, were generally unitarians." Thefe 
are bold attempts, By what means do thefe gentlemen intend 
to eftablifh their thefes, and effect their ends f .A little fubver- 
fion does all. In'ftead of beginning by afcertaining facts, and 
then proceeding to deduce fair inferences, begin by afTuming an 
inference, and then accommodate facts to your aflumption, and 
your work will be done. Hear our excellent author. " What- 
ever occurs in the ancient writers of hiftory of a fpeculative na- 
ture, we find to be an inference from a fact ftated, without any 
feeming view to the deduction, but to the unadulterated repre- 
fentation of which the hiftorian appears to have religioufly at- 
tended. Whatever occurs in modern writers of hiftory of a nar- 
rative nature, we find to be an inference from a fyftem previ- 
oufly aflumed, without any feeming view to the truth of the 
facts recorded, but to the eftablifhment of which the hiftorian 
appears, through every fpecies of mifreprefentation, to have 
zealoufly directed his force.'' This is a golden remark, and of 
infinite ufe in theological controverfy, as the writer of thisdeci- 
five refutation of Mr Lindfey has moft fully fhewrt, u Inquiry in- 
to thebelief of the chriftians of the firft three Centuries, refpecl> 
ing the one Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft. By 
William Burgh, Efq. 

Natural confequences are very beautiful. " John viii. 14. 
Though I bear record of myfelf, yet my record is true. — 42. If 
God were your father, ye would love me.— 46. If I fay the 
truth, why do ye not believe me? — ix. 16. How can a man, 
that is a finner, do fuch miracles ? — 33. If this man were not of 
God, he could do nothing— Heb. ii. 2, 3* If the word fpoken 
by angels was ftedfaft, and every tranfgreffion received a juft 
reward, how (half .we efcape, if we neglect a falvation fpoken 
by the Lord, &c. &c. 

" If true religion lie much in the affeBions, fuch means are to 
be defired as have much of a tendency to move the affections. 



( 392 ) 



make of it. Thefe ufes are to renounce ourfelves 
- — to be fenfible of our infinite obligations to God, 
who pardons fo many fins with fo much bounty — 
to confecrate ourfelves entirely to his fervice, as per- 
fons over whom he has acquired a new right — and to 
labour inceflantly for his glory in gratitude for what 
he has done for our falvation. * 

Such books, and fuch a way of preaching the word, adminiftra- 
tion of ordinances, and fuch a way of worshipping God in 
prayer, and finging praifes, is much to be defired, as has a ten- 
dency deeply to affedl: the hearts of thofe who attend the 
means/' Dr Jonath. Edwards on Religious AffeElions,p. I. 

Natural confcquence and lawful ajumption maybe joined. Thus, 
one of our mod refpeclable divines, narrating the date of the 
non-conformift s in the reign of Charles II. and bellowing duly 
merited praife on their extenfive labours, adds, — 

f Confequential Reafotiing.) 
If they through many a fharp inclement blaft. 
The painful period of their labours pafs'd, 
Shall we relax our toils, when peace profound 
Reigns all abroad, and funbeams blaze around ? 

( Affiimptive R eafoning . ) 
But fhould we (for who knows what Itorms may rifej 
What fudden thunders (hake both earth and fkies ?) 
Be try'd like thefe confeffors, let us dare 
The fiercefl wrath and heavieft doom to bear ; 
For Ghrifl, for conference wealth and eafe retign, 
No frowns, no terrors in their caufe decline." 

This, as all the other publications of this truly worthy fer- 
vant of God, is the language of a fair reaioner and an upright 
man. Br Gibbons in Mr Palmers Edit, of Calamy. 

* The do&rine of God^s mercy. A dictionary compiled on accu- 
rate principles would affix a great number of diftin£t. ideas to 
each term, and would inform us, this is the literal fenfe of a 
term, that is the metonymical fenfe of it, this is the popular mean- 
ing of a word, that is the theological juridical fenfe of it, and fo on] 

Divines diftinguifh the mercy of God from his love. " God. 
who is rich in mercy, for his great love, wherewith he loved us, 
quickened us with Chrift." Eph. ii. 4, 5. The caufes of our fal- 
vation are mercy and love. I fhall give you the diftinclion be- 
tween mercy and love . The object of love isthe creature {imply, 



( 393 ) 

You may alfo obferve the falfe and pernicious con- 
fequences, which ungrateful and wicked men, who 
fin that grace may abound, pretend to derive from 
this do£trine. They fay, we are no longer to con- 
fider juftice now we are under gx-ace, the more we 
fin the more God will be glorified in pardoning us 
— this mercy will endure all the time of our lives, 
and therefore it will be enough to apply to it at the 
hour of death—with many more fuch falfe confe- 
quences, which mull be both clearly ftated, and fully 
refuted. * 

the object: of mercy is the creature fallen into mifery. Parents 
love their children : but if they be fallen into mifery love works 
in a way of pity." &c. Dr Goodwin, Tom. i. fer. x. Eph. \u 

Si &c - 

Agreeably to this notion, mercy, when put for the love of 
God, fignifies undeferved love, and by a figurative tour it may 
fignify pardon to the guilty. Luke xviii. 13. God be merciful to 
me a (inner ! li I cry you mercy for fufpecting a friar." i. e. I 
beg pardon. Dryden — By another tour it may fignify pity to one 
in diftrefs, without the idea of demerit. Happy is he, that hath 
mercy on the poor. Prov. xiv. 2 1 . — By another tour it may fig- 
nify difcretion. I He at your mercy. Thy mercy, O Lord ! is in 
the heavens. Pfal. xxxvi. 5. Vague as the term is, and more 
proofs that it is fo I need not adduce, it has given occafion to 
much controverfy, which probably would be diminifhed, if not 
entirely fuperfeded by a definition of terms. The doctrine of 
mercy, in Mr Claude's fenfe, is that account of the difplay of 
the love of God in redemption, which the Calviniftic fyftem of 
divinity gives. This iubject is largely difcufled by Dr Goodwin, 
vol. v. part ii. Evangelical y or Gofpel-holinefs. 

* State and refute falfe co?ifequences drawn from the doftrhie of 
divine mercy. On what occafions it is proper to do fo Mr Claude 
will (hew prefently. Here we only obferve, that falfe eonfe- 
quences deferve different treatment according to the different 
fources, from which they proceed. If malice affix confequences 
to any doctrine, without the leaft regard to truth, and with a 
malevolent defign of afperfing thofe, who believe it, a good man 
would not go beyond the demerit of fuch a llanderer were he 
to imitate a Jefuit, mentioned byDr Owen, who fully anfwer- 
ed his opponent by only writing at the end of each of his de- 
tracting periods, mentiris impudentiffime. If honeft inquifzuve 

3D 



( 394 ) 



It is much the fame with the do&rine of the effi- 
cacious grace of the holy Ghoft in our converfion, 
for the juft and lawful confequences, which are drawn 
from it are, I. That fuch is the greatnefs of our 
depravity, it can be rectified- only by almighty aid 
— 2. That we mould be humble, becaufe there is no- 
thing good in us — 3. That we mould afcribe all the 
glory of our falvation to God, who is the only au- 
thor of it — 4. That we muft adore the depths of the 
great mercy of our God, who freely gave his holy 
fpirit to convert us. * 

ignorance infer falfe conclufions, it will be neceffary at leaft to 
try to inform fuch well-meaning perfons, as may be poffeffed 
with it. If we have given occafion by abftrufe language, by odd 
aflbciations of ideas, by violent tempers, or by innocent circum- 
ftances, for falfe confequences, it will be glorious to retract, 
and amend. It would be eafy to exemplify all thefe : but the 
laft only mall be attended to now, in an example from Dr 
Goodwin. 

4t God hath laid up proportions of mercy for the wicked as 
a ftock, which when [being'] fpent, they are broken, 'tis not fo 
with the godly." A circumftance unfavourable to this proposi- 
tion is, it is put in the index of a folio volume, and officially 
ought to contain the fubftance of what is advanced in the page, 
to which it refers. The propofition, as it Hands here, is incom- 
plete, partial, exceptionable, and open to many falfe confequences. 
Yet none of thefe feeming inferences ought to be drawn from 
it, becaufe the Dr fo explains himfelf in the whole place refer- 
red to as to preclude them. Suppofe a preacher to utter fuch 
an unguarded fentence in a fermon, and to leave it unexplained 
could he blame auditors for inferring ftrange confequences ? . I 
trow not ! Goodwin on Eph. ii. 5. voL i. 

* Efficacious grace. Our author has explained himfelf before, 
vol. i. p. 106. and following pages, to which we have added a 
few thoughts page 108, note 3. 

The nature and operation of that divine power, which is ef- 
fentially necefTary to falvation under the name of grace, has ever 
been a fubjecl of controverfy among divines ; and, when peace 
is prefer ved, the controverfy is edifying. Let penalties and cen- 
fures, and evil difpofitions withdraw, and controverfy may be- 
come a privilege to chriftians. Thefe, and not mere fpeculativ** 
miftakes, have done all the mifchief. 



( 395 ) 



You muft remark at the fame time, the abufes, and 
falfe confequences, which infidious fophifters draw 
from this doctrine, as that, fince the converfion of 
men is by the almighty power of God, it is needlefs 
to preach his word ; and to addrefs to them on God's 
part exhortations, promifes, and threatnings — that 
it is in vain to tell a (inner, it is his duty to turn to 
God, as without efficacious grace (which does not 
depend upon the finner) he cannot do it — that it has 
a tendency to make men negligent about their fal- 
vation to tell them, it does not depend on their 
power. Thefe, and fuch like abufes, muft be pro- 
pofed and folidly refuted. * 

Moreover, this method muft be taken, when you 
have occafion to treat of the doctrines of election 
and reprobation — the propitiatory facrifice of Chrift's 
blood — and, in general, almoft all religious fubje&s 
require it; for there is not one of them all, which 
is not fubject to ufe and abufe. Take care, however, 
when you propofe thefe good and bad confequences, 
that you do it properly, and when an occafion 
naturally prefents itfelf 5 for were they introduced 
with any kind of affectation and force^it muft be difc 
greeable f 

* Mefute the fallacious reafonings of infidious fophifters. Many- 
have taken the liberty to attribute confequences to doctrines, 
which they, who taught them, never drew. 

I am forry to be obliged to add, fome very good men, and 
worthy minifters of Chriit, in other refpects, have repeatedly af- 
firmed, that minifters ought not to exhort finners to believe and 
repent evangelically. What was fome few years ago called the 
modern queftion met with more difcuflion than fuch a queftion 
deferved. That whole controverfy lay in a confufion of ideas^ 
amifconftruction of terms, and a violent attachment to Angle 
words, and unconnected fentencesof fcripture. See vol. i. page 
193 note 5. 

t T>o not introduce confutations without nceefity. The fix follow- 
ing canons are laid down by Urfin, Zepper, and Keckerman. 

3D* 



( 396 J 



In general, then, this way of good and bad con- 
fequences ought to be ufed, when there is reafon 
to fear fome may infer bad confequences; and when 
they feem to flow from the text itfelf; for in this cafe 
they ought to be prevented and refuted, and contrary 
confequences oppofed againft them. 

XIV. 

Reflect on the End proposed in an Ex» 
pression or an action. * 

Although this is not very different from the way 

I. Labour more to confirm truth, than to fupprefs error, and 
never refute errors, except when your text requires you to do fo. 
—2. Letobfolete errors alone. — 3. Derive your confirmations and 
refutations from your text. — 4. Expofe thofe modern errors on- 
!y,from which your auditors are in danger. — 5. Refute errors in 
a tranquil, placid manner, free from all violence and bitternefs, 
and fo convince your auditors that you aim to promote the glory 
of God, and the falvation of your people. — 6. Refute the prin- 
cipal errors of opponents : but do not aim to difcufs them all." 
Keeker man. Rhet. Eccl. lib. i. cap. 9. 

* Refiecl on ends propofed. Reflections of this kind are of great 

confequence to minifters. 1. In compofwg fermons. -Ordination 

fermons very properly turn on — the defign of God in appointing a 
Handing gofpel miniftry — on the aims of bad, and of good men in 
entering on the office, and fo on — Funeral fermons are frequent- 
ly compofed on this plan— the defign of God in afflictive provi- 
dences — the deftgns of minifters in celebrating the praifes of the 
deceafed, and fo on — ivz/?-fermons, thank {giving, and commemora- 
lion-iermons are often with great propriety compofed on the fpe- 
cial views, and defigns of each. 

2. Attention to fcope, end, and defign is neceflary to the un- 
derftanding of the fenfe of any uuriter y particularly biblical wri- 
ters. John xx. 31. " Thefe four gofpels were written that ye 
might believe that Jefus is the Chrift, and that believing ye might 
have life through his name. — 2 Tim. hi. 16, 17. All icripture 
is given for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for inftruction 
m righteoufnefs, that the man of God might be perfect, thorough- 
ly furnifhed unto all good works,— Jude iii, I write unto you of 



( 397 ) 



of principles, of which we have already fpoken ; yet 
it may afford a variety in difcuffing them. 

If, for example, you were fpeaking of juftifica- 
tion, in the fenfe in which St Paul taught it, you 
muft obferve the ends, which the apoftle propofed, 
as— i. To put a juft difference between Jefus Chrift 
and Mofes, the law and the gofpel, and to fhew a- 
gainft thofe who would blend them together, and 
fo confound both in one body of religion, that they 
cannot be fo united. % 2. To preferve men 

the common falvation, thatye mould earneftly contend for the 
faith. 

3 . The Juccefs of a minifter's labours much depends on the 
people's belief of the uprightnefs of his intentions. Never, fure- 
ly, were unworthy ends in preaching more notorioufly expofed 
than in the general courfe of court -fermons from the acceffion 
of James I. to the acceffion of the prefent auguft family. I ex- 
cept individuals : but as for the general run of court-chaplains 
in thofe times, they were mere newfmongers, their fermons were 
a kind of journals of the houfe of fpiritual Lords, and they may 
be ftill confidered as a kind of tragicomical church gazettes. 
Compare a£ts of parliament and fermons, the journals of the 
houfe with the fermons of the year, and fee whether I exagge- 
rate. When I fay, fuccefs depends on this, I do not mean fuo 
cefs in ftirring up ftrife and penal laws, in obtaining the favour 
of a prince, or honours and preferments for himfelf : but I mean 
fuch fuccefs in promoting the glory of God, and the good of 
mankind, as that, at which a pious minifter is taught by his com- 
miffion to aim. 

* The law and the go/pel cannot be blended together. Our author 
explains himfelf at large on this fubjecl:, vol. 1. page 1 19, and 
following. Some attention is neceffary in ftudying the holy 
fcriptures, and in reading the writings of divines, in order to re- 
concile feeming contradictions on the doctrine of law. S. Paul 
affirms, Rom. vi. 14. that Chrift ians were not under the law ; 
and the fame S.Paul affirms, 1 Cor. ix. 21. that they were un- 
der the law ; and, what is ftill more remarkable, he fays, I through 
the law, am dead to the law, Gal. ii. 19. as if the law were de- 
ft ructive of itfelf. The true fource of all difficulties on this fub- 
jecl; is the vague, equivocal meaning of the term law ; the apo- 
ftle ufed it in different fenfes, Rom. ili - 27. and an inattention to 
this throws a veil over his writings* 



( S98 ) 



from that Pharifaieal pride, which reigned amongft 



Our old divines allowed this equivocal fenfe of the word, law, 
and expounded accordingly : but, as their attention was chiefly 
turned to the eftablifhing of that article of Faith, by which Lu- 
ther had declared the church flood or fell, that is, juftification by 
faith without human merit, their writings (I fpeak with all due 
f everence to thofe eminent fervants of Chrift) their writings in 
general leave the doctrine of law in a mift. See Perkirts Ccm. on 
Galat. vol. ii. of his wor&r... 

If we take the word law, as fcripture often ufeth it, for the 
whole Jewtfl) (economy, we are under it, and we are not under it, 
<tfne part of it annihilates another part of it, and the annihilation 
of one part «ftablifheth the other. The Jewifh religion, or the 
la*io, is conjiderable in four different points of light, i. If the 
doftrine of Judaifm be confidered, it will appear to have had the 
fame fyftem, that we have— the fame God— the fame mediator 
^revelation for a rule of faith and practice — the doctrines of 
creation^ providence, human depravity, divine afiiftance, and fo 
on. In this view the Jewifh and Chriftian are not two religions : 
but one in two different degrees of improvement: the childhood 
#nd the manhood of the fame perfon. — 2. The Jewifh religion 
may be confidered in a moral view. Here again it agrees with 
ours* Are Chrift ians under a natural, necefiary, revealed, eter- 
nal, and indifpenfible obligation to moral rectitude? So were the 
Jews. Do we fall fhort of that rectitude, which is requifite to 
an exact conformity to the rule, and are we guilty on account of 
irregularity and depravity ? So were they. Were they juftified 
By faith f So are we. See Rom. ii. iii. iv. v. Heb xi.— 3. The 
Jewifh religion may be confidered in an experimental light. Thus 
alfo we agree. Religious pains and pleafures, hopes and fears, 
joys and forrows are the fame ; and the pfalms of David are pic- 
tures of Chriftian hearts. — 4. The Jewifh religion is confider- 
^able in point of Polity, Oeconomy, Government. Here we differ. 
Their church polity expired when Chrift died, and in that new 
fyftem of government, which our divine redeemer let up, lies the 
fuperior excellence and glory of the chriftian church above that 
of the Jews. S. Paul, who was the apoftle of the gentiles, mag- 
nified his office by explaining the grounds and reafons of it j and, 
if I may fo fpeak, this topic was the fort of this divinely infpired 
man. Their church was national, and local : ours congrega- 
tional and univerfal— Their facerdotal adminiftration was fuccef*. 
lional in one family : our adminiftration is ele£Hve — Their fer r 
vice was pompous and expenfive : ours is cheap and plain — The 
fpirit of their church was confined and partial ; that of ours h 




( 399 ) 



oufnefs, and not the righteotifnefs of Gods — 3. To 
take away fuch inadequate remedies as the law by- 
way of fhadow exhibited for the expiation of fins; 
as Sacrifices, and purifications; as well as thofe which 
Pagan fuperftition propofed, fuch as wafhing in 
fpring water, offering victims to their Gods, &c. — \ 
4. To bring men to the true and only atonement for 
fin, which is the blood of Jefus Chrift * 

liberal, and univerfal, and every Chriftian is a philanthropic 
In vain the papal church, and others along with them, fetch mu- 
fic and habits, fafts and feftivals, priefts, who were princes, and 
princes, who were priefts from the old teftament ; in vain do they 
explain baptifm by circumcifion, and the Lord's fupper by the 
pafibver, admitting and governing members of a chrOlian church 
by laws of a Jeivijh polity ; S. Paul (hall anfwer for us, ive are 
dead with Chrift to firft principles, given for a temporary ufe by 
God, and perplexed and perpetuated by the traditions of men 9 
Col. ii. 20, 22. And thus, through the doclrine, morality, and 
experience of the law, ive are dead to the polity of the law^ and 
live unto God, Gal. ii. 19. 

* « The blood of Chrift is the only atonement for fin." Sau- 
rin fays, <c the epiftle to the Philippians was written to guard the 
believers there againft the errors of thofe, who firft polluted the 
doclrine of the infant-church. I mean thofe teachers, who pro- 
fefied to receive and fubmit to the gofpel, but pretended, — that 
it ought to be mixed with the obfervations of the Leviticai wor- 
fhip — and that fuch worfhip mould be alfociated with the facri- 
fice of the crofs in the j unification of a (inner. 

I aflign this end to the epiftles to the Philippians and Galatians 
to diftinguifh it from another end, which the apoftle propofed 
in fome other epiftles, particularly thofe to the Romans and He- 
brews. The two latter were intended to difcufs the controvert 
fies, which were on foot between unconverted Jews, and Chri- 
ilians : either to reclaim the firft, or to prevent the apoftacy of 
the laft. But the two former epiftles were written againft thofe 
converted Jews, who only feemed to embrace Chriliianity 
in order to make a monftrous aflbciation of it with Judaifm. 
The principal work of an interpreter in explaining thefe epiftles 
is well to diftinguifh thefe two defigns, and carefully to guard 
againft confounding the adverfaries, whom the apoftle oppofes 0 
One is the thefis of fuch as regard the gofpel as an impofture; 
the other is the thefis of thofe, who confider it as a religion come 



{ 400 > 



XV. 

Consider whether there be any Thing 
remarkable in the manner of the 
Speech or Action. * 

For example. In all thefe things we are more 
than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom. 
viii. 37. You may remark, that there is a more 
than ordinary force in thefe words more than con- 
querors: for they exprefs a heroical triumph. He 
does not fimply fay, we bear our trials with pa- 
tience ; he not only fays, We shall conquer in this 
conflict ; but he affirms, We are more than conquer- 

f rom God, but who think, we ought not to feparate from it the 
Levitical ceremonies, which had the fame origin. 

The principal caufe of confufion upon this fubjedl: is, that 
fome oi the principles, which ferve to refute the Jews, who 
wholly reject the gofpel> ferve alfo to refute thofe, who would 
receive and abafe it by mixing with it Levitical rites. For this 
reafon the apoftle repeated a part of what he had faid againft 
the Jews in his epiftle to the Romans, in his epiftle to the Ga« 
latians againft Judaizing Chriftians, however different the doc- 
trines of thefe erroneous people were. Such are thefe princi- 
ples. "Man is notjuftified by works but by faith." Rom. 
iii. 28. &c. Gal. ii. 16. — " As many as are of the works of 
the law are under the curfe." Gal. iii. 10. — st The law was 

our fchoolmafter to bring us to Chrift," Gal. iii. 24. <c A- 

brali am believed God, and it was counted to him for righteouf- 
nefs.'" Rom. iv. 3. — But there are alfo in this epiftle to the Ga- 
latians other principles, which regard only Judaizing Chriftians, 
and which cannot be applied at all to the Jews. As thefe, 44 If 
while we feek to be juftified by Chrift we ourfelves alfo are 
found finners— If I build again the things which I deftroyed.— 
Thefe can only regard the fyftem of Judaizing Chriftians." Saur. 
Ser. torn. viii. fur les citoyens du ciel, &c. 

* Remark the manner of an expreflion. This topic is of in- 
comparable utility in difarming an adverfary, in juftifying your 
own mode of attacking h\ro 9 in proving, illuftrating, or aggra- 
vating a fubjedl. 



( 401 ) 



srs. It is much that faith refills trials without be- 
ing opprelfed; it is more to conquer thefe trials af- 
ter a rude combat : but to affirm the believer fhall 
be more than a conqueror is as much as to fay, he 
fhall conquer without a combat, and triumph with- 
out refiftance; it is as much as to fay, he fhall make 
trials the matter of his joy and glory, as the apoflle 
fays, we glory in tribulation considering them not as 
afflidions and forrows ; but as divine honours and 
favours. This was alio the apoftle's mind, when 
he wrote to the Philippians, unto you it is given in 
the behalf of Chrifl, not only to believe on him, but 
alfo to fuffer for his fake. He confiders fufferings 
as gifts of the liberality of God, for which the faith- 
ful are obliged to be thankful. So in this other 
paffage, I am perfuaded, that ?ieither death ^ nor life; 
nor angels, nor principalities , nor power s^ nor things 
prefent, nor things to come, nor height nor deptk^ nor 
any other creature fhall be able to feparate us from 
the love of God, which is in Chrijl Jefus our Lord. 
You may here remark the heroifm and magnani- 
mity of St Paul. His faith feems to defy all the pow- 
ers of nature. He aflembles them all— life, — death — » 
angels,, &c, to triumph over them, and to exult in 
their defeat. This language marks a full perfuafion 
of the favour of God, and an invincible confidence 
in his love.* 

* Perfuafion of the favour of God, I do not know whence 
it is (fays Monfieur Saurin) but the fa£t is certain; of all chur- 
ches in the world, there are none, that wreft the doctrine of af- 
furance as fome of ours do. No where do they draw confe- 
quences mere directly oppofite to thofe, which naturally flow 
from this doctrine, than here amongftus. People lull themfelves 
a fleep in a chimerical confidence, and they reft upon imaginary 
fyftems and affurance, which ought only to reft upon the rcA 
®f ages. Thefe perfons make a fcruple, even when engaged in 

3? 



( 402 ) 



Such remarks as thefe may be made upon many 
cxpreffions of Jems Chrift, wherein are difcovered 
dignity and majefty, which cannot belong to any 
mere creature, as when he fays, Before Abraham 
was I am~ — Whiljl I am in the world, I am the 
light of the -world — /ill mine are thine \ and thine 
are mine, and I am glorified in them — Te believe 
in God believe also in me — Whatsoever ye shall 
ask in my name that will I do. There are many 
paffages of the fame kind, * 

XVL 

Compare Words and Actions with similar 
Words and Actions. 

The Evangelift fpeaks of the things, that Jefus 
began to do and to teach. A£ts i. t. Now he fays 
the fame of Mofes, he was mighty in words and in 

the moft criminal habits, of faying they doubt of their falvation: 
and, as if a perfualion of being faved, discharged us from the 
neceflity of working out our falvation, affurance of getting to 
heaven is confidered as a virtue which fupplies the want of eve- 
ry other 1 am perfuaded fays St Paul, of what? of being fa- 
ved live in what manner I will? No, but I am perfuaded that nei- 
ther death nor life can feparate me from the hve of God. That is, I 
am perfuaded I {hall triumph oyer all temptations and perfevere 
in loving God. Saurin, fer. torn. ii. S. premiere. 

* The manner is confiderable in many paffages. This com- 
ttion-place like all the relt, may be very advantageoufly ufed, 
when proper difcernment is employed : on the contrary, what 
an occafion of trifling when love of the marvellous fuffers fan- 
cy to make the choice! Thus when fcripture fpeaks of the jaf- 
per, the chryfolite, the topaz, the amethyft, Rev. xxi. 19, 20. &c. 
it is not enough to have them for ornaments; but we mult al- 
fo take them for medicines; they fhall be pulverized, and pre- 
ferred for difeafes, or hung about the neck to preferve from con- 
tagions; as if, when the holy ghoft fpake of precious flones, he 
meant to convey the idea of healing. 



( 403 ) 

deeds. Ads vii. 22. Here you may obferve, that 
are diftinguifhing chara&ers of a true prophet, who 
never feparates pra&ice from do&rine. You may 
then make an edifying comparifon between Mofes 
and Jefus Chrift: both did and taught^ but there 
was a great difference between the teaching of the 
one and that of the other. One taught juftice, the 
thefe two things joined together doing and teaching 
other mercy — one abafed the other exalted — one 
terrified, the other comforted. There was alfo a 
great difference between the deeds of the one and 
thofe of the other. Moft of the miracles of Mofes 
were miracles of dejlrutlion, infeds, frogs, hail, and 
others of the fame kind, with which he chaftifed the 
Egyptians. But the miracles of Jefus Chrift were al- 
ways miracles of benevolence^ raifing the dead, giving 
fight to the blind, &c. * 

* Compare fubje&s; and remark the difference. " Prov. xixV 
2f. There are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the 
counfel of the Lord, that (hall ft and. The vanity of our de- 
vices, and the {lability of Gods counfels are evident, for our de« 
vices and God's counfels have three remarkable differences. 1 * 
They differ in their nature-, our's are devices, fancies ; God's 
are counfels, wife deliberate determinations. 2. They differ in 
number; our devices have multiplicity and variety, there are ma- 
ny, God's counfel is one uniform confiftent plan. They differ 
in their manner of exifting-, our devices are in our hearts 
in intention only \ God's counfels ftand, they produce the 
intended effect. Dr. Sanderfon's fermon's, viii. ad popu- 
lum. 

Compare fubjecls; and remark differences. Our beft writers on 
this fubjetl: or pulpit-eloquence go by this rule, they compare 
pagan with chriftian orators, the oratory proper for the bar 
with that, which becomes the fenate, and both with that which 
belongs to the pulpit. In their general texture they are alike 1 
but in many particulars they differ ; for the pulpit mould al- 
ways fpeak ad populum> except in particular places, as in royal,, 
collegiate, and other fuch chapels and churches •, and even their 
fermons mould preferve a coolnefs, plainnefs, purity and fimpH- 
city of both matter and manner. The wifer the auditors the 

3 E 2 



( 404 ) 



So again, when the infidelity of the Jews in re- 
jecting the Meffiah is difcuffed, you may examine 
their prejudices, and their maxims as they are nar- 

lefs need of amplification and ornaments in the fermon. Am- 
plification and perfuafion imply ignorance, inattention and un* 
willingnefs in thofe, to whom they are addreffed. In what de- 
gree thefe are to be fuppofed of any audience concerning the 
{ubje£t of the fermon, in that degree of narrating, "reafoning, 
and adorning a faithful preacher will compofe his difcuffion, 
and accommodate his addrefs. In order to obtain ability for 
fuch a variety of addrefs, a young man mould well work him- 
felf, if I may be allowed fuch an exprefiion, in fuch preparatory 
exercifes, as may bring him to be at eafe, at home, as it were, 
in the pulpit. This eafe being acquired, his mind will be 
freed from a thoufand incumbrances, and he will be more cool 
and at leifure topurfue his chief defign in his fermon. 

The following fix rules were laid down by an excellent 
judge. " i- Begin early to try to preach. 

2. Take an analyfis of a text, orfubjecl: from any author and 
difcufs ityourfelf, as well as you can. Explain it — illuftrate it 
—prove it-— adorn it, &c. Inftead of purchafing a farrago of 
fermons, compofed by others, and to be repeated by you, learn 
yourfelf to compofe. 

3. Begin with eafy fubje&s. Take an eafy piece of fcripture 
hiftorv, or a plain tale of a miracle, and obferve times, places, 
perfons, circumftances, and fo on. Nothing can be eafier than 
to make a few pertinent remarks on each. 

4. Let your firft efiays be very fhort. A divifion into two 
parts will be fufficient, examine thele briefly, and with few or 
no ornaments. 

5. Exercife firft in proper places. Not only pronounce your 
difcourfe alone in your room, or in the field , but the day be-* 
fore you preach, go alone into the place of worfhip, where you 
are to preach, afcend the pulpit, familiarize yourfelf to the place 
utter your difcourfe, &c. Preach in public firft in a village, a- 
mong plain chriftians, &c. 

6. Take, if you can find fuch a perfon, a kind and judicious 
friend, and get him to attend your firft fermons, to remark and 
correcl your defects, &c. The philofopher, Demonax, having 
heard a declaimer deliver his declamation improperly, advifed 
him to exercile himfelf diligently. So I do, replied the youth, 
I every day declaim alone in my room. O, added the philofo- 
pher, I do not wonder you declaim fo foolifhly, fince you have 
accuftomed yourfelf to fpeak before only one fool of an auditor." 
Keckerman. Rhet. Eccl. lib. ii. cap. poft, xvii. 



( 405 ) 



rated in the gofpel; and thefe you may compare 
with thofe of the church of Rome in reje&ing the 
reformation, for they are very much alike.* * 

So again, when you confider S. Paul's anfwers to 
the obje&ions of the Jews, who pleaded, that they 
were the people of God, and that his covenant be- 
longed to Abraham and his pofterity ; you may ob- 
ferve, that thefe anfwers are like ours to the Roman 
church, when they affirm, they are the church of 
God. As the apoftle diftinguifheth two Ifraels, one 
after the flefh, and the other after the fpirit : lb we 
diftinguilh two churches, one which is only fo in 
outward profeffion before men, pofleffing the pulpits, 
the churches, and the fchools ; and the other which 
is the church in the fight of God, having a holy doc- 
trine, and a lively faith. Thefe anfwer precifely to 

* Compart the infidelity of the church of Rome with that of the 
Jews. Scripture ufed this method, Jer. xxvi. 17, 18, 19, &c. 
st The Elders faid, Micah prophefied in the days of Hezekiah 

—Did Hezekiah, and all Judah put him to death ? Urijah 

prophefied againft this city — Jehoiakim flew him — Neverthelefs 
the hand of Ahikam was with Jeremiah that they mould not 
put him to death." 

Jeremiah ufed this manner of fpeaking, xxviii. 7, 8, 9. Ha- 
naniah ! hear thou what I fpeak in thine ears, and in the ears of 
all the people, The prophets, that have been before me, and 
before thee of old, prophefied againft great kingdoms, of war, 
and of evil, and of peftilence. When the word of the prophet 
fliall come to pafs, then mall it be known, that the Lord hath 
truly fent him. — xvi. 11, 12. Your fathers forfook me, and ye 
have done worfe than your fathers. — Our Lord ufed it, Luke xi. 
47> 48* Your fathers killed the prophets, ye allow the deeds of 
your fathers — S. Stephen too, A6ts vii. 51, 52.— S, Paul alio, 1 
Cor, xi, — 2 Cor, xi, 22, &c. 

As the holy fcriptures were written for the continual ufe of 
all ages, fo they exhibit an aflbrtment of characters, that never 
die. The holy fpirit, who has thoroughly furnifhed the man of 
God with a great variety, has alfo given him a caution con- 
cerning a comparifon of them with living perfons, Eccl, vii, io 9 



( 406 ) 



the apoftle's Ifrael after the fe/h, and Ifrael after the 
fpirit. As the apoftle applies the promifes of God, 
and their accomplifhment, not to Ifrael after the fleih; 
but to the Ifraelites after the fpirit ; fo we alfo apply 
the promifes, which God has made to his church, 
not to thofe, who occupy the pulpits, the churches, 
and the fchools : but to thein^ who believe and prac- 
tife the pure doctrine of the gofpeh % As S. Paul 
defines the true people of God to be thofe, whom 
God by his electing love hath taken from among 
men ; fo we define the true church by the fame elec- 
ting grace ; maintaining that the Lord has made all 
the excellent promifes, with which fcripture abounds 
to his eled only, and that his elect are fuch as he has 
chofen according to his good pleafure, without any 
regard to particular places, conditions or qualifica- 
tions among men* f 

* The true church is dijlinguijhed not by occupying public edifices • 
hut by adhering to the pure go/pel. Mr Claude feems to have imi- 
tated here Gregory of Nazianzen, who makes ufe of the fame 
arguments againft the domineering party of his day. Both are 
authorized by a thoufand examples. Vid. Greg. Nazianz. op. 
torn. i. orat. 2 j* 

f Comparifon, Archbifhop Fiechief has left a beautiful ex- 
ample in a fermon on Mat. xxv. 43. I was in prijon and ye vijited 
me not. It is a charity-fermon for prifoners. 

« Who are they ? and what are we ? they are debtors crimi- 
nals, and captives who far from being pitied groan in their 

dungeons, and lie there victims to the intereft, and perhaps to 

the paflion and animofity of thofe who retain them but are 

not you debtors to God for all the liberalities of his providence? 

&.C. They are criminals, and are not you ? Perhaps the 

tranfports of a blind involuntary paflion have hurried them into 
fome diforder, which the law punifhes : but do not you cherifh 
in your hearts paflions yet more dangerous, which the laws 
leave unpunifhed ? You have not fhed your brother's blood, 
but how often have you wounded his reputation ? how often 
have you troubled his reft by your inquietudes ? how often have 
you abandoned him to poverty by your avarice ? What differ-* 



( 407 ) 



XVII. 

remark the differences of words and 
Actions on different Occasions. 

When a weak fcrupulofity, or a tendernefs of con- 
fcience was in queftion, which put fome of the faith- 
ful upon eating only herbs, S. Paul exhorted the 
ftrong to bear the infirmities of the weak ; let not 
him that eateth, defpife him that eateth not, and let 
not him, which eateth not, judge him that eateth ; 
for God hath received him. Rom. xiv. 3. But 
when the fame S, Paul fpeaks of falfe teachers, who 

ence is there between thefe miferable offenders and you, except 
that they bear the punifhment of their fins, while you live in 

pleafure? they groan while you triumph, &c. in fine they 

are captives and prifoners, and has not the holy ghoft told you 
that whofoever committeth fin is the fervant of fin ? Is there any 
heavier chain than an inveterate habit ? What is the life of the 
greatett part of mankind but a continual flavery ? "We fee vari- 
ous paffions reign over them by fucceffion ; delivered from pride 

they are enflaved by avarice thus men change their tyrants 

not their ft ate, and the laft avenges the exceiTes of the firft. 

What calamity is comparable to that of a prifon ? What words 
are lamentable enough fufficiently to paint a prifoner's mifery ? 
Shall Ireprefent pnfons to you as curfed regions, where there falls 
neither ram nor dew ? — (hall I defcribe dungeons as fepulchres 

in which men are buried alive ? (hall I mew you children 

mourning for the captivity of their fathers ? fathers lamenting 
the poverty of their children ? mothers difabled from watching 
over the condud of their daughters, daughters incapable of con- 
tributing-to the fubfiftence of their mothers ? Many enemies to 
intuit them few, or no friends to comfort them, no charitabl- 
hands to relieve them ! &c." 

The whole is a moft afFecYing piclure of Jail-miferies, apt to 
ftir people up plentifully to relieve them, and carefully to avoid 
them : and compared with the ftate of a criminal before God. 
enflaved by his vices, and in his laft moments abandoned by all 
to his miferies, how touching and ufeful the fight ? Flechier 
lerm. torn. 11. Quatrieme Exh. pour les prif. 



{ 408 ) 



wanted to impofe a yoke on confcience, and who 
under pretext of meats and days were attempting to 
join Mofes with Jefus Chrift, as if Chriftians were 
yet obliged to obferve the ceremonial law ; then the 
apoftle has no patience with them, but condemns and 
anathematifes them, as people who preached another 
gofpel, and exhorts the faithful to stand fast in the 
liberty, wherewith Christ had made them free, and 
not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 
Gal v. i. f 

f Remark different occafions. This rule regards what our du 
vines call feeming contradictions, and is in general the true con. 
ciliator of apparent inconfiftencies. Saurin has aline fermon 
on the uniformity of God in his conduct ; in which he proves 
to a demonftrat.ion,— that God is of one mind— that his defign 
in revelation is uniform— and that this uniformity of defign ne- 
ceffarily produced a variety of difpenfation. S, Paul had taken 
up this fine notion of the deity, i Cor. xii. and from him Saurin 
took it. 

i. This principle affords proof of the divinity of Chriftianity 
in general, and of feveral of its doctrines in particular. It is the 
only fyftem of theology, that provides for the felicity of man by 
harmonizing all the perfections of God with all vifible appear* 
ances in the world of nature, in the ways of providence, and in 
the nature and conditions of mankind. 

2^ This doctrine reconciles feeming differences in fcripture, 
by mewing that on different occafions it was proper to fay and 
unfay, to allow and difallow, to eftablim an ceconomy, and to 
diffolve it. Revelation contains a record of the laws, by which 
God's kingdom in various circumftances has been governed. In 
the patriarchal ftate one fet of laws was neceffary — in the mo- 
faical another— and in the chriftian a third, different from both, 
Samuel reafoned with the Jews on this principle concerning 
the righteous acts of the Lord to them and to their fathers, j 
Sam. xii. 6, 15. According to him, kings, priefts, prophets, 
ordinances, eftablifhments, captivities, all were appointed for 
the producing of moral rectitude, or obedience, and, for the 
production of this, different treatment was neceffary on different 
occafions. 

3. The dodrrines of miracles, gifts, prophecies, vifions, 
extraordinary revelations, and fuch like, are all concerned 
in this article; for all thefe were occafional benefits granted in 



( 409 ) 



So again, when you find in the gofpel, that Jefus 
Chriil ibmetimes forbad his difciples to publifli the 

in fpecial cafes, and not to be perpetuated in the chriftian 
church, 

4. Occafion is an article of confequence in church-difcipline. 
We do not imagine that the chriftian religion is alterable by us,' 
we only fay, there are in church-governrnent certain obvious, 
large outlines, and there is a difcretionary power lodged in chri- 
ftian focieties to fill them up. For example, 2 Chron. xxx. 18. 
" A multitude of the people had not cleanfed themfelves, yet did 
they eat the paflbver other wife than was written"— Ezra. x. 
10, 11, 9. " Ezra the prieft ftood up, and all the congregation 
made confeflion in the ftreet trembling for the great rain"— 
Mat. xii. 4. " David ate the mew-bread, which it was not law- 
ful to eat"— Mat, x. 27* Gal. ii. 2. Speak in the light, preach 
upon the houfe tops. I communicated the golpel privately" — 
Acts xvi. 33. " The jailor, and all his were baptized in the 
night." 

5 Occafion is, as our author {hews, a fource of invention o£ 
arguments in preaching. To obferve the occafion of a text 
is often the eafieft way to arrive at the fenfe of it. The occa- 
fion of the fermon is often the beft guide in the choice of a fub- 
jed to fupply it. 

There feem to me to be four ideas in the complex notion 
of a good controverfialift, in regard to a dexterous, opportune 
ufe of the fword of the fpirit. He will give no occafion to the 
adverfary. 1 Tim. v. 14. — he will cut off occafion given bj* 
others, 2 Cor. xi. 12 — he will feek occafion to annoy his oppo- 
nent,Jud. ix. 33. xiv.4 --He will not ufe this liberty for an occa- 
fion to the flefh, Gal. v. 13. Such a polemical divine was the 
great St Paul, and he thereby obtained a right to fay, I give you. 
occafion to glory on my behalf. 2 Cor. v. 12. 

Him that is weak in the faith, receive. That is, fay our 
beft divines, receive him into communion. St Paul treats in 
the xiv. of Romans of the doctrine of toleration, and in Gala- 
tians of that of impofition. Mr Henry, therefore, well obferves 
on this place, they were not differences of judgment, which did 
mifchief in the primitive churches : but it was a mifmanage- 
ment of thofe differences, that produced evil confequences. 
Some would not tolerate, and others would impofe. It is a fol- 
ly to call any thing impofed indifferent; for impofition makes it 
important. 

Stand fail in the liberty, wherewith Chrift hath made us free. 
Jefus Chrift left civil liberty in ftatu quo: the object of con- 
templation here, then, is religious liberty, Chrift hath enfnu> 

3 F 



( 410 ) 



miracles, that he wrought, and'to declare his divinltyj 
and, at other times, that he ordered them to publifh 
upon the houfe-tops what they had heard in private 
and to preach to all nations the myfleries of his king- 
dom; you muft remark, that this difference is owing 
to different occafions. While Jefus Chrift was upon 
earth, the my fteries of his kingdom were covered with 
the vail of his humiliation, it being neceflary in 
fome fenfe to conceal them: but after his exaltation^ 
it became proper to publifh them to the whole 
earth. * 

cliifed his church, that is to fay, he hath freed it from the curfe 
of the moral law, and from the obfervation of Jewifh polity, 
or church-law. The church of Rome has wilfully fubjecled 
Itfelf to a polity made up of Jewifh and Pagan ceremonies, and 
is become, as Dr Chandler has well exprefTed it, <c a religion 
only fit for knaves and fools, who have facrificed all the valuable 
interefts of mankind, or have not fenfe fufficiently to prize 
them." See his excellent ferm. againft popery at Salter's hall, 
I Tim. iii. 15. 

Of any church, that pretends to give liberty, and yet reftrains 
freedom of thought by fubfcription to human creeds, it may be 
truly faid, 

She hath enfranchised them 

Upon fome other pawn for fealty , Shakespeare, 

In all fuch churches, 

Placid fubfcribers mortgage their eftate, 

And. pawyi their beft, and laft remaining piece of plate, 

* Teach all nations. Mat. xxviii. 18, 19, 20. There h 
hardly a paffage of fcripture to be produced of more confe- 
quence than this. It contains the commiflion given by our a- 
fcending king to his apoftles. Our divines conned the words 
with Mark xvi. 17, 18. Luke xxiv. 49. and obferve they are 
divifible into feveral parts or claufes of the moft beautiful fim- 
plicity, full of ftrong argument, and refiftlefs^motives of perfua- 
fion and acquiescence. — " All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth — Go ye therefore into all the world— teach all na- 
tions — preach the gofpel to every creature — Teach them to ob- 
erve all things whatfoever I command you — baptize them in 



( 411 ) 



The fame diverfity may be remarked in what 
the Lord Jefus faid to the Canaanitiih woman- — 

the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft 
— He that believeth and is baptized, mall be faved— He that 
believeth not fhall be damned— Behold, 1 fend the promife of my 
Father to you — Tarry ye at Jerufalem until ye be endued with 
power from on high — Signs (hall follow them, that believe — 
in my name they fhall call out devils— they fhall fpeak with 
new tongues — If they drink any deadly thing, it fhall not 
hurt them — They fhall lay hands on the fick, and they fhall re- 
cover — lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." 

For the fublimity of the ftyle of this commifGon fee Blackwall's 
Sacred Claffics, voL ii. ch. 2. And for the importance of it in re- 
gard to baptifm, admiftion of members, andfuch like truths, Dr., 
John Gale's fixth ferm. 11. vol. of fermons. 

The A£ts of the apoftles is the belt expofition of this glo- 
rious commiffion, for there we fee by clear indubitable fa£ts, 
how they who executed it, underftood it„ I call this an im- 
portant paffage, becaufe, expounded by Acts, it decides innu- 
merable queitions in theology. Who is Chrift, and by what 
authority does he a£t? He is an univerfal king, and his king- 
dom is allowed by his Father to extend over all perfons and 
places— How did this king prove his right, and afcertain his do- 
minion? By £gns, and wonders and mighty deeds— Did heion- 
lign over to his apoftles a power of legiflation? No, he ordered 
them to teach what he had commanded— Might the apoftles 
teach and enjoin whatever he had not prohibited? They might 
not. They were to teach an obfervation of what he had posi- 
tively inftituted— Might they preach the gofpel to finners? To 
every rational creature in the whole world —Is the religion to 
be propagated local, national, partial? It is univerfal— May it 
be propagated by fire, and fword, and penal fanctions? It may 
not. It is to be fpread by teaching — What is previoufly ne- 
ceiTary to baptifm ? Profeffion of faith in the gofpel— Is bap- 
tifm a Handing ordinance? It is an injunction, and has never 
been repealed, and herein it differs from promifes of miraculous 
gifts, and portions of divine affiftance, which depend on the dif- 
cretion of the promifer— Does the chriilian fyftem allow a 
preacher of the gofpel to preach terror? He is to preach to un- 
believers and to denounce damnation — -Is chriftianity to con- 
tinue? To the end of the world— Is it to be continued by the 
mere aid of learning, reafon, eloquence, &c. ? The prefence of 
Chrift is to be fuperadded. Thefe, and many other articles, 
iiold forth this word of life to the fpecial attention of a chriftian 

3 F 2 



( 412 ) 



that he was only fent to the loft fieep of the houfe of 
Ifrael—2ti\& that it was not meet to give the children s 
bread to dogs. This feems contrary to an almofl: in- 
finite number of paffages of fcripture, which affirm, 
Jefus Chrift is the light of the G'etitiles * — to him 

• - 

minifter, and, by a proper regard to it, he may rejoice in the day 
of Chrift, that he hath not run in vain, nor laboured in vain. 
Phil. ii. 16. 

# Light to the Gentiles. Religious bigotry was the national fin 
of the Jews, they affected an infignificant haughtinels in fpeak- 
ing of the reft of mankind, and called them the nations, the gen- 
tiles, barbarians, and fo on. The firft ehriftians, being Jews by 
birth, bore the fcandal of this national fin, after they had imbibed 
the benevolent fpirit of the gofpel. The curt, and fometimes 
obfcure ftyle of Tacitus, has given occafion to feveral learned 
men to difpute the meaning of his well-known expreflion, odis 
humdni generis convicli funt. (Annal. 1. xv- c.44.) Some think, he 
means to fay, All mankind hated Chriftians •, others think, it 
Ihould be underftood, Chriftians hated all mankind. The latter 
feems mod natural, and agreeable to his defign; for; it is plain, 
lie is fpeajking of what he called an execrable fuperftition, taught 
by Chrift a Jew, and practifed by JewiftY followers . The de- 
fcription does not fit chriftians: but it does Jews, who were ra- 
ving mad on account of that aflbciation of Gentiles with Jews, 
which chrift ianity propofed to make. S. Paul defcribes them in 
the fame manner. *' 1 Theff. ii. 15, 16. They killed the Lord 
Jefus — and their own prophets — they perfecute us — they pleafe 
not God — they are the enemies of all mankind — they forbid us 
to fpeak to the Gentiles, that they might be faved." 

Dr Sclater, one of our old divines, remarks, not improperly, 
on this place, that " all, who hinder th preaching of the gofpel 
are to be reputed capital enemies to all mankind, by depriving 
people of the greateft good." There is a great deal of meaning 
In this expreflion. The evident defign of the gofpel is to pro-? 
<duce the univerfal focial felicity of all mankind. Now the fe- 
icity of intelligent beings cannot be produced without the re^ 
ynoval of ignorance, vice, and infenfibility, the three chief caufes 
of human mifery. In order to remove thefe, the gofpel gives us 
a fet of juft true notions — a clafs of virtues— and powerful mo- 
tives to engage us to admit the firft and to pracl'ife the laft . But 
$hefe three remedies, contained in the gofpel, are to be conveyed 
out of the book into the man ; for as they lie in the letter they 
operate nothing. Now this is the work of a gofpel minifter, as 
an inftrunient in the hand of the holy fpirit 5 and he, who con« 



( 413, ) 



Jhall the gathering of the people be. Thefe and all 
other fuch paflliges will perfe&ly agree, if you dif* 

fiders the production of the greateft focial good as the pole-ftar 
of his miniitry, will not greatly err in executing it. His aim 
will be to give light to them, who fit in darkneis ; to difplace 
confufion* to eiiablifh order, and to impel men to action bypro« 
per motives. 

There leem to be four great objects, which deferve the atten- 
tion of fuch a man. I. Persecution. He, who perfecutes a chri- 
itian minifter for preaching the gofpel, ought to be reputed an 
enemy of mankind. 2. What restrains freedom of thought, with- 
out which no man can form principles of his own, is an inimical 
iiivafion of the rights of all mankind. 3. Tedious repetitions of 
human rituals in divine worfhip, crowding the preaching of the 
divine word up into a corner to make room for human inven- 
tions, are on the fame fide againft the rational intelligent rights 
pf all men. 4. Obliging all miniiters to preach by any one fet of 
rules, of grammar, rhetoric, theological phrafeology, and fo on, 
deferves to be clafTed with the former acts of hoitility. The 
firft of thefe crimes takes away the light — the fecond wounds 
the eye, that mould fee in it — the third (hews that object in ten 
minutes only, which cannot be understood without the attention 
pf an hour— and the fourth precludes the benefit to be derived 
from feeing the object, by confining it to a fixed point, at which 
indeed fome eyes can fee it beft : but where others cannot pof- 
fibly fee it at all. In a plan aiming fimply at the felicity of our 
fellow-creatures, there is neither grammar nor rhetoric, phrafe- 
ology, propriety, fyftem nor fenfe : but the information, fancti- 
fication, and falvation of the auditors is all in all. Propriety in a 
barn, may be impropriety in a cathedral : but if it inform, 
factify, and fave a foul in a barn, it ought to pafs for propriety; 
for it is in effect fenfe, fyftem, learning and all. 

Cardinal Borromeus, in his oration to the clergy of Milan, at 
opening his fixth provincial council, delivered his ideas in this 
manner. " Acts xx. 28. Take heed therefore unto yourfelves* 
and to all the flock, &c. Two things we muft attend to— the 
prefent fick ftate of the diocefe— and the medicines proper for 
recovering the patients committed to our care. Let us confider 
the province as one large hofpital. See, pride is a fpiritual drop- 
fy — The concupifcence of youth is a high fever — Drunkennefs 
is madnefs— Some are leprous — others paralytic — fome are lame 
— others dumb— fome deaf—others blind— &c. Thefe difeafes, 
dangerous in patients, are intolerable in phyficians, clerical 
blindnefs, lamenefs, &c. are kifufFerable." This is really a good 
difconrfe, and a great many juft and adequate ideas are taught 



{ ) 



tinguifli time, and occafion. While Jefus Chrift 
was upon earth, he was the minijler of the circum- 
cifion^ 2& S. Paul fpeaks, that is, his perfonal mini- 
flerial comrniffion was only to the Jews : but when 
he was exalted to glory, his miniftry extended over 
the whole earth, * 

XVIII. 

Contrast Words and AcTioNs.f 
Thus you may oppofe the agonies and terrors, 

tinder images in themfelves difagreeable : but in their effects^ 
perchance, not fo. Paft. InftruSl. Carol. Borromai. orat. vi. 

* Obferve occajmns. The abufe of any thing will juftify a 
preacher in decrying on one occafion what on another he would 
recommend, " there are two reafons of difguft with knowledge, 
I. The little progrefs, which they make, who carry their invef- 
tigations fartheft. In proportion to the advance, that we make 
in this wide field, we difcover new and unbounded fpaces, or 
fhall I fay, netv abyfies beyond our fkill, to fathom ? the more 
we are nourifhed in the deep pafture of human fcience the more 
hungry we are ; " the eye is never fatisfied with feeing, nor the 
ear with hearing, and of making many books there is no end. 

2. The little juftice, that is rendered in the world to thofe, 
who excel in knowledge, is another reafon of difguft. He, that 
Increafeth knowledge, increafeth forrow; it happeneth to me 
even as to a fooL Yes, after you have devoted your youth, in- 
jured your health, and fpent your fortune to inform your own 
mind, and to enable you to inform thofe of others, it will hap- 
pen to you even as it happeneth to a fool. You will be told, 
fciences are unworthy the purfuits of a man of quality. The 
fuperiority of your knowledge will raife up againft you a world 
of ignoramufes, who will affirm that you corrupt youth, when 
you would guard them againft prejudices : that you ftrike at 
orthodoxy, when you endeavour to heal the wounds, which pe- 
dantry and perfecution have given it ; that you trouble fociety, 
when you w©uld purify morality, fubje&ing to its holy laws the 
great as well as the fmall, magistrates as well as fubje&s. In a 
word both in church and ftate they will prefer novices before 
you, novices hardly worthy to be your difciples. 

•j- Contraji words and aBions. This is, as our author prefently 
exprefles it, one of the fined topic s of illuftration. There is no 



( 415 ) 



which feized Jefus Chrift at the approach of deatb 5 
againft the conftancy and joy of the martyrs, who 
flew to martyrdom as to a vi&ory. This contrariety 
of emotions is accounted for by the difference of the 
perfons. Jefus Chrift was the mediator of men to- 
wards God, bearing their fins, and engaging with 
the eternal juftice of his father: but the martyrs were 
believers, reconciled to God, fighting under Chrift' s 
banner, and as myftical foldiers maintaining his righ- 
teous claims. One was filled with a fenfe of God's 
wrath againft men: the others were filled with a fenfe 
of his love. Chrift met death as an armed enemy ; 
and as one who, till that time, had a right to triumph 
over mankind : but martyrs approached him as a 
vanquifhed enemy, or rather as an enemy reconciled^ 

end of the utility of it in theology. It illuftrates revelation by 
contrafting it with all fyftems of natural religion. Never man 
fpake like this man. John vii. 46.— It illuftrates chriftianity by 
placing it oppofite to Judaifm. <£ Ye are not come to mount 
Sinai : but ye are come to mount Zion." Heb. xii. 18, 22. — It 
diftinguiiheth true miniftera of Chrift from pretenders. <£ We 
are not as many who corrupt the word of God : but we fpeak 
as of God, 2 Cor. ii. 17. xi. &c. — It difplays the beauty of a true 
church by comparing it with the deformity of falfe religion* 
Of Mohammedifm, popery, and all political religions it may fafe« 
lybe allied, what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 
2 Cor. vi. 16. — It is of excellent ufe in preaching the law, by 
contrafting what men are with what they ought to be. 2 Pet. 
iii. 11. — It is excellently adapted to comfort by comparing the 
wifdom of providence with the folly of him, who complains of 
it-, the fufhciency of pardoning mercy with the abundance of a 
finner's unworthinefs ; the pleafures of piety with the amufe- 
ments of fin; the privileges of a faint with the licentioufnefs of 
a (inner ; the aids of the holy fpirit with the efforts of the tempt- 
er ; the joys beyond death with the agonies of dying — It is ufe« 
ful to recover a backflider, by comparing his prefent ftate with a 
former ftate. Did I appear to the houfe of thy father ? &c. 1 
Sam. ii. 27. xv. 17. Jer. ii. 2, 5, 20, &c. Ezek. xvi. Gal. iii» 
1, 4, &c. In thefe, and in a thoufand other cafes, contraft is 
lovely beyond conception, and fcripture abounds with it* 



{ 416 ) 



\vho having changed his nature was become favour- 
able to men. In one word Jefus Chrift was at war. 
with death: whereas death was at peace and in friend- 
fhip with the martyrs. * 

In general, we may affirm, that contrail: is one of 
the moft beautiful topics of chriftian rhetoric ; and 
that which furnimes the moft ftriking iiluftrations. 
Great care, however, mud be taken, that the oppo- 
fitions be natural, eafy to comprehend, and properly 
placed in a full, clear^ light, f 

; * " Contraft the death of Chrift with the deaths of martyrs." 
Many of our divines urge this argument with great force in 
proof ox the doctrine of vicarious fatisfaction for fin. I confefs, 
I never met with any tolerable account of the terror of Chrin: 
in view of death, commonly called his agony, his cup, Luke 
xxii. 44, 42. except in that fyftem, which goes on the doctrine 
of atonement. Innocence had no caufe to fear on its own ac- 
count, and yet Chrift had more terror in dying than any of his 
followers. He did not, however, expire in terror : but, having 
cried with a loud voice It is Jitri/hed, bow r ed his head, and yield- 
ed up his holy foul all placid and ferene to God his Father. 

f Contra/Is are Jlriking. One of the fined modern contrails, 
that I have feen, is that of Bp. Maffillon in one of his advent 
fermons, pourle jour des morts, The fubject is death. The text 
Rev. xiv. 13. The whole fermon, except exordium and conclu- 
fion, which are fhort, confrfts of two, what fhall I call them, 
pictures, or originals ? The one is a defcription of a dying faint, 
the other that of an expiring {inner. I dare not attempt to tran- 
flate them. They are inimitably beautiful. Each departing foul 
reflects coolly on the part, attends to prefent condition, and 
looks forward to futurity. What fources of joy to the one, and 
of mifery to the other! 

Contra/is muft be natural. That is to fay, they muft arife out of 
a real oppofition, founded in the nature of things, and not out 
of fanciful, artificial oppofitions, which owe their exigence to 
the genius of the preacher. Young minifters are very apt to af- 
fect the ftriking in their firft eftays, and this leads them into 
-licentious antithefes, falfe points of wit, comical aflbciations of 
terms, and fometimes falfe doctrine. In thofe cafes fpeechifi- 
eation produces ftrikification : but what becomes of edification ? 
It is eafy to affect : but to touch the pafiions properly, and to 
purpofes worthy of a fober mind, is not fo very eafy. 

Contrajts muft be eafy to be comprehended. Some divines, and thofe 



( 417 ) 
XIX. 



Examine the Grounds, or Causes of an 
Action or an Expression ; and shew the 
Truth or Equity of it. 

For example. When the incarnation of Jefus 
Chrift is in queftion, as in this text, The word was 
made fiejh^ you may recur to the foundations of this 
truth, as revealed in fcripture, in order to fhew that 
a divine perfon did take upon him real true humanity, 
in oppofition to the notions of fome ancient heretics, 
who imagined, that the human nature of Chrift was 
only apparent. * For this purpofe, you muft look in- 

of the church of Rome above all others, deal out contraft very 
profufely for the fake of gaining attention. 

Contrafts muft be well placed. They produce fine effects every 
where : but the fineft, I prefume to guefs, in conclufions. Mofes, 
collecting at the clofe of his miniftry all his fire and force, charg- 
ed the Ifraelites to place the bleffings on mount Gerizem, and 
the curfes on mount Ebal, and to let them Hand in contraft for 
popular edification, Deut. xxxvii. 1 1, 12, 13. Chriftian mini- 
fters often imitate him, and any fubjedt will admit of it. Thus 
Cardinal Borromeus clofes his fecond oration to his clergy* 
" God, your offended judge fays, If ye be feers by office, how 
is it ye are blind in practice? If I appointed you to feed my flocks, 
why do you fuffer them to perifh for hunger ? If ye be the fait 
of the earth, where is your favour ? If ye be the light of the 
world, why do ye fuffer people to fit in darknefs ? If I appointed 
you to be my mouth, why are ye dumb ? If ye be unequal to 
your duty, why are ye fo ambitious as to hold your offices ? If 
equal to it, why do ye not difcharge it ? The fire of the prophets 
the precepts of the gofpel, the examples of the apoftles, religion> 
piety, the ftate of the church, the terrible day of judgment, end- 
lefs rewards, and everlafting woes, are all thefe nothing to you! 
Paft- inftruB. or at. conctU ii. Card. Borrom. 

" * Some heretics denied Chrift' s real humanity GnofticSj, 
Apollinarians, '&c- Epiphan. HareJ\ xxvi. 76, 77. Soc. Eccl Hift. 
lib. ii. cap. 46. 

Hooker rightly fays, « Errors in this article of faith, are either 

3G 



( 415 } 

to the ancient prophecies for fuch paffages as attri* 
bute two natures, the human and divine, to the one 
perfon of the Meffiah. To the fame purpofe you 
may alfo apply new-teftament texts* which fpeak 
of the fame fubjecT:; and you may farther obferve 
fuch reafons of this finguiar ceconomy, as theology 
furnifheth, and which are taken from the defign of 
our falvation, * 

In like manner, when you treat of the refurrec- 
tion of Ghrift, or his afcenjton to heaven, you muft 
take this topic, and fhew the fidelity and credibility 
of the teftimony borne by his apoftles. Your ar- 

from dividing the perfon, which is but one, or confounding the 
natures, which are two. Hook. Eccl. Pol. 

* Examine the ground of an expreflion or action, and fhew the 
equity of it. Two things are neceflary here. I . A fa£ muft be 
afcertained. 2. The principles of it muft be inveftigated. The 
bare mention of this fubjecl: {hews the neceffity of caution. 

1. A fact: may be fuppofed, which is not true. A certain per- 
fon affirmed, baptifm was efTential to falvation, and thought he 
proved his pofition by adding, Jefus Ghrift fays, " He that be- 
lieveth, and is baptized, {hall be faved : but he that believeth not,, 
and is net baptized, fhall be damned." Mark xvL i6» No, replied 
his opponent, Jefus Chrift never faid fo. 

2. A fact may be afcertained, and the principles of it may be 
declared. " I count all things but lofs for the excellency of the 
knowledge of Chrift Jefus my Lord." Phil. in. 8. I give up ail- 
by choice \ for I have ftudied both fubjeds, and prefer Chrifti- 
anity with all its difadvantages. 

3. A fa£t may be afcertained, and it may be proper to con- 
ceal the principles of it. " Jefus faid unto Philip, Whence fhall 
we buy bread ? This he faid to prove him ; for he himfelf knew 
what he would do.'" John vi. 5, 6. See xiii. 27,. 28, 6, 7. 

4. Principles are fometimes beft urged by implication. Thus 
1 Cor iv. We are ftewards— you ought to give us credit for 
fidelity — you arTecl: to doubt our principles — Well, defer your 
judgment of our hearts till the Lord fhall judge the world — and 
now examine our alliens, u we are made a fpe&acle to the 
world," andfo on. 

5. A fa£t may be afcertained, the principles of it may be 
pretty clear, and yet circumflances may make it properfor ob- 
ferversonly to query. 



( 419 ) 



gument may be eftablimed by obferving what fol- 
lowed his refurrection and afcenfion ; as the effu- 
fion of the fpirit, the abolition of the empire of the 
devil and his idols, the converfion of whole nations 
to the worfhip of the one true God, miracles, pro- 
phecies, &c. 

The fame method is proper, when fome predic- 
tions are your fubjecls, as the deftruction of Jerufa- 
iem, and the rejection of the Jews ; for you may 
either narrate hiftory to fhew the execution^ or you 
may reafon upon the f abject to fhew how wonder- 
ful the divine wifdom was in that difpenfation ; the 
- whole will evince the truth of the predictions. * 

I faid alfo, the grounds and caufes of an action 
or expreffion might be examined to flew the equity 
and truth of either. This principally takes place, 
when any thing furprizing and uncommon is in 
queftion ; for fuch things at firft feem to mock the 
minds of auditors ; or when you are preflmg home 
&n exhortation to the practice of any duty, which 

* Evince by inveftigating caufes. To this topic this fermon of 
Maflillon mult be referred, " Firft, what are the fecret caufes of 
our revolt againft the will of God ? i. What are the advantages 
which accompany fubprifiion to his holy will? Whence is it, that 
we never will what God wills? Yet whence is it, that there is 
fo much comfort and delight in willing only what he wills ? 
Our rebellion againft the divine will proceeds from a vain rea- 
fon, which rafhly condemns what it cannot comprehend. 2. It 
is owing to felf-love, which inclines us to refer every thing to 
ourfelves, and which condemns any thing, that does not enter 
into our views and fchemes of happinefs. ^. It proceeds from a 
falfe notion of virtue, which fubflitutes ufelefs denres after what 
God does not require of us in the place of duties, which his holy 
will does impofe on us. 4. The advantages of fubmiflion arife 
from a quiet confiding in God for future things — an acquiefcence 
in his will under prefent embarraffments — and a deliverance from 
ufelefs regrets concerning the paft. Maf. My ft, pour la purijic* 
dela 5. vkrgi* 



( 420 ; 



cannot be performed without difficulty. . For ex- 
ample. The Pharifees complain in the gofpel, that 
the difciples of Chrift did not keep the traditions of 
the elders. In order to juftify the difciples, {hew the 
foundations of Chriftian liberty, and remark, that the 
true worfhip of God does not confrft in the obfer- 
vation of external ceremonies, much lefs in the ob- 
fervation of human traditions and cuftoms : but it 
confifts of true piety, real inward holinefs, and aftual 
obedience to the commandments of God. * 

So again, when Jefus Chrift, after he had healed 
the paralytic man, commanded him to fin no more 
left a worfe thing came unto him. You muft go to 
the grounds of the expreffion to fhew its equity. 
Now thefe are, that fome fins had drawn the wrath 
of God upon him before — that if he continued in 
them that wrath would certainly return — that the 
favours, which we receive from God, engage us to 
glorify him by good works, &c. This topic is of 
great ufe in explaining the commandments of the law, 
the equity of which muft be made to appear; for 
it muft be proved, that they are all founded in na- 
ture, and have an inviolable fitnefs in the order of 
things. 

In fhort, it is proper to take this method with all 
exhortations to piety, charity, &c. which are found 
in fcripture. In order to perfuade people to the 
praftice of them, their fitnefs muft be (hewed, by 
opening the grounds, reafons, and principles of our 
obligations to the pra&ice of all thefe virtues, f 

* Shew the grounds of chriftian liberty. No fubject. requires 
more attention than this at prefent in our churches. It ought to 
"be well ftudied, and thoroughly inveuigated ; for (I am fony to 
fay fo) there is a word of collufion among divines in this article. 
They give us one liberty in their books, and another in practice. 

t Shew reafons for the praBice of virtue.— Thus Maflillon per- 



< 421 ) 



XX. 

REMARK THE GOOD AND BAD IN EXPRES- 
SIONS and Actions. * 

This topic is of very great ufe in explaining the 

fuades to a life of piety, though accompanied with many dif- 
guftful ckcumftances. " Then the Jews took up ftones to (lone 
him. John x. 31. Thefe were the returns of gratitude, which 
Jefus Chrift received of men ; thefe the confolations, with 
which heaven permitted him to be exercifed in the painful 
courfe of his miniftry. At one time, they treated him as a Sa- 
maritan, as one that had a devil ; at another, they took up ftones 
to ftone him ; and thus the fon of God paffed the whole time 
of his life, always expofed to the molt obftinate contradictions, 
meeting with almoft none but fuch as were infenfible of his be- 
nefits, and rebellious againft his preaching, and all this without 
his letting fall the lealt fign of impatience, or the leaft com- 
plaint. 

< But muft I add ? we, my brethren ! we his members and dif- 
ciples, alas ! the fmalleft difgufts, the leaft oppofitions we meet 
with in the practice of piety offend our delicacy ! Nothing is to 
be heard but complaining and murmuring, when we ceafe to 
tafte thofe pleafmg attractions, which render duty delight. Tof- 
fed and diftrefled, we are almoft tempted to abandon God, and 
return to the world as to a gentler, and more convenient mat- 
ter; in lhort we would have nothing but comforts and pleafures 
in the fervice of God I 

But we ought to abide in a courfe of obedience, though we do 
meet with difgufts : Becaufe, 1. Difgufts are inevitable in this 
life. 2. Thofe of piety are not fo bitter as we imagine. 3. They 
are lefs than thofe of the world. And laftly, let them be as great 
as they may, pious people have refources, which worldlings 
have not.'' Majf. Canine, torn. iv. pour le mecredi de la [em. de 
pajjim. 

This beautiful topic is exemplified every day by fuch divines 
as bend their attention to prove the reafonablenefs of chriftianity 
— the reafonablenefs of obferving a fabbath — the fitnefs of mo- 
rality to. the felicity of a ftate— a family — a perfon, &c- —the 
agreement of religious and civil liberty, &c. &c. 

* Remark the good and bad in exprejjions and actions. Our author 
confines his pupil to actions and expreffions : but fome improve 
his rule, into observations on fingle words, fingle letters, and 
points. 

Where fcholars only mean to divert themfelves with ortho- 



( 422 } 



Mftories recorded in the gofpel, where you will fre- 
quently find a&ions and words, which may be cal- 

graphical wit, and for this purpofe play tricks with a point, ge- 
nius fpaikles, boys play at pufh-pin, and grave men pafs by and 
fmile : but when fuch puerilities areferioufly propofed, and made 
grounds of faith and practice, the matter becomes very conse- 
quential, and muft be fully examined. We have in feveral places 
curforily obferved this fubje£t, as it affects divinity. See vol. i. 
P- 3 2 j 33» 85, 292, 293. See the notes at the bottoms of thefe 
pages. At prefent we only add one example. S, P. Q. R fignify 
the fenate and the people of Rome. No, fays a Sibyl, thefe four 
letters contain a prophecy^ that the Roman church fliall be the 
head of all other churches; for they fignify Serva Populum Sijuem 
Redimifti. — They mean, fays Bede, that the Goths will be de- 
feated in all their attempts to take the city; for they ftand for, 
Stultus Populus £%u<zrit Romam- — Proteftants affirm, that the let- 
ters direcl: them to fubvert popery for the public good, Sublato 
Papa 3 g^uietum Regnum—No fuch thing, fay the papifts, Salus 
Pap£ ®)uies Romg. 

Remark the good and bad in exprejftons. That is to fay, ftudy 
the fubject expreffed, and diftinguifh the properties of its com- 
ponent parts. The Sapientia Joco-feria runs all on this topic, and 
collectors of it may furnifh divines with many fober arguments. 
« — (< It is excellent to have an enemy 5 for his vigilance makes 
us cautious. Plutarch — It is more fafe to hear a barbarian than 
an orator ; for orators can difguife by adding, fubitraCting, ex- 
tenuating, amplifying, and can make black appear white. Joan. 
JPic. Mir and.— Flattery is a fine art; for it conciliates friends and 
enemies, and he, who knows not how to flatter, knows not how 
to converfe. Btephan Gauzza — Folly is preferable to wifdom ; for 
a fool is neither plagued with the queftions of friends, nor the 
envy of enemies. Erafm. — It is glorious to be envied ; for virtue 

excites envy, and envy increafeth virtue. Cafper Dornavius 

Cafp. DGrnav. Amphitheat. Sapien. Joco-feria, torn ii. 

Ruth. i. 15. Return my daughter to your gods. Do you know 
what it will coft you to become a profelyte to my religion ? — 1 
Kings xix. 20. " Go back, and kifs your father and mother ; for 
what have I done to you ? Have I, by calling you to be a pro^> 
phet, weakened your obligations to focial duties ? A61 xvi. 27, 
28. " The Jailor would have killed himfeli : but Paul cried, Do 
thyfelf no harm. Believe the gofpel, and profefs it ; you may be 
put to death for your profeflion : but the guilt and damage of 
iuicide do not enter into the cafe of a martyr. — See Mat. xvi, 
24,25,26,27. John xxi. 23. Luke xx. 22, &c. x. 2Q. ix.j;o» 
&c. John xiii. 13, &c. 




( 42S ) 



led mtxt; becaufe, in general, they proceed from (ome 
good principles, and, in particular, they have a good 
deal of weaknefs and infirmity in them. If you would 
explain Mat. xvi. 22. Then Peter took him, and be- 
gan to rebuke him ^ faying y be it far from thee, Lord^ 
this Jhall not be unto thee* You may obferve what 
there is good and what bad in this expreffion of S. 
Peter. 1. You fee herein his fove to his mafter ; for 
his not being able to bear the difcourfe of Jefus 
Chrift concerning his fufferings at Jerufalem could 
only proceed from his ardent affection to him. 2. 
Herein appears not that cold and lukewarm regard* 
which moft men have for one another, but a moil 
lively affection, interefting him for his mafter, an 
affe&ion full of tendernefs, which could not evert 
bear to hear a word, or entertain a thought about the 
death of Jefus Chrift. 3. You may obferve an honejl 
freedom, which put him upon freely addreffing Jefus 
Chrift himfelf, ufing that familiar accefs, which his 
condefcenfion allowed his difciples, without a mixture 
of mean and defpicable timidity. 4, You fee, in fine* 
a ftrong faith in his mafter's power, as by addrefling 
him he feems perfuaded, that it depended only on 
himfelf to fufFer or not to fiifFer. Lord r be it far 
from thee , this Jhall not he unto thee. Now, all 
thefe are good difpofitions. Here follow the bad 
ones. 1. Peter difcovers grofs ignorance of the ways 
of divine wifdom in fending Jefus Chrift into the 
world \ for he does not feem yet to know, that Je- 
fus Chrift muft needs fufFer, and with this ignorance 
the Lord reproaches him in the next verfe, Thou 
favourefi * not the things which are of God : but 

* Thou favourejl not the things, thai be of God. Our bleffed Lord 
was entirely mafter of his fubjett, and he had a right to deliver 



( 424 ) 



thofe, which are of men. 2. His love to his mafter 
had fomething merely human and carnal in it, fmce 
he only confidered the preservation of his temporal 
life, and concerned himfelf only about his body, in- 
ftead of elevating his mind to that fuperior glory of 
Jefus Chrift, which was to follow his fufFerings, or 
confidering the great work of man's falvation, to per- 
form which he came into the world. 3. You may 
alfo remark a troublefome and criminal boldnefs. He 
means to be wifer than Jefus Chrift. Peter took hinu 
* fays the evangelift, and began to rebuke him, faying 
Be it far from thee. Rafh attempt ! as if Peter were 
called into the council of God and Jefus Chrift his 
fon to give his opinion concerning this grand af- 
fair. 4. It even feems as if Peter, hearing Chrift 
fpeak of his fufFerings, imagined, this difcourfe pro- 
ceeded only from his fear of death, and from a mean 
timidity; for he aims to encourage and comfort him 
as we do perfons whofe fears exceed the bounds of 
reafon. Lord! fays he, be it far from thee, this fhall 
not be to thee, as if he had laid to him, Do not af- 

his fentiments concerning it: but there are a thoufand cafes, which 
tall under the notice of minifters, in treating which they may 
diftinguifli facts, and affirm, that is a good action, that is a bad 
one : but they cannot proceed farther, and aflign the hidden mo- 
tives of the heart in thefe actions, for they are known to God 
alone. In cafes where the motives of the heart are rendered 
pretty clear by actions, prudence may fometimes require filence, 
For example. 

1. In church-hiftory, which it becomes a divine to ftudy, facts 
are clear, and make a ground of reafoning : although motives 
be palled by. All through the reign of Edward VI. liberty of 
conscience was granted to foreigners. 

* Took him. Took him afide fay fome ; took him by the 
hand fay others. He embraced him fays Grotius. This laft 
feems well to agree with the place ; and the fame word fo ren- 
dered Philem. 17. would aptly exprefs the apoltle's meaning; 



( 425 ) 



fli&yourfeif, your apprehenfions of death are ground- 
lefs, nothing of this is like to happen to you. f 

f (c Example of difcuffing the good and bad in words and ac- 
tions." On this runs Mr Saurin's fermon on tranfient devotions- 
From Hof. vi. 4. What fhall I do to thee Ephriam ? what 
(hall I do to thee Judah ? for your goodnefs is as a morning 
cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away. " This tranfient 
devotion, of which the text fpeaks, is not hypocrify. Hypocri- 
fy cannot fufpend for a (ingle moment the itrokes of divine juf- 
tice : yea it is lefs likely to extinguish the fire of divine anger 
than to inflame it. God does not ufe this tender language to 
hypocrites, what fhall I do to thee Ephriam ! but on the contra- 
ry, wo be to you hypocrites. 

Nor is it the feeble piety of a tottering Chriftian. However 
imperfect his piety may be, it is, however, real ; and it would 
be too fevere to fay of this piety, it is like the early dew and go- 
eth away — -*but it is between thefe two difpofitions. It does 
not go fo far as the latter : but it goes farther than the former. 
It is fincere, fo it is fuperior to hypocrify ; but it is fruitlefs, and 
fo it is inferior even to weak piety. It is fufficient to difcover fin 
but not to correct it. It can promife fincerely : but it does not 
perform. It weeps but it doth not break off bad habits. It 
is a certain religion of times, circumftances, &c. and owes its 
birth frequently to public calamities, to folemn falls or feftivals 
or to the approach of death ; but it frequently vanifhes with the 
caufes, which produced it, &c. 8tc. All the images which the 
Lord ufeth in the fcriptures to make himfelf known to us, thofe, 
which are taken from our infirmities, our paflions, our love and 
our hatred, are too imperfect to reprefent a God too far elevated 
above men to be reprefented by any thing human. Yet all thefe 
images have a reality, which agrees to the fupreme being in art 
eminent manner, in a manner proportioned to his dignity. God 
reprefents himfelf here as a prince, who had formed a clofe 
connection with one of his fubje&s. This fubjecl: appears fen- 
fible of the honour done him. The prince fignalizes his efteem by 
a profufion of benefits. The fubjecl: abufes them. The prince 
reproaches him. He is hardened. To reproaches have been 
added threatnings, threatnings have been followed by fufpen- 
fion of favours. The fubjecl: is touched, affected, reanimated. 
The prince receives the penitent with open arms, and crowns 
his return, with redoubled acts of kindnefs. The ungrateful 
fubjecl: abufes them again. The prince again reproaches him 9 
again threatens him, and fufpends again the effects of his love<> 
To remove the fame mifery the fubjecl ufes the fame means, 
*nd avails himfelf of the liberty of returning, which the goodnefs 

3 h 



{ 436 > 



XXL 

Suppose Things. 
This topic is principally ufeful in controverf)V 

of his prince allows him, and again he returns. The prince yet 
pities and again pardons his relenting ingrate but this perfidi- 
ous fubjedt, flighting the tendernefs of his mafter> falls fo often 
into this ungrateful behaviour, that the prince becomes a prey- 
to a thoufand oppcfite thoughts, he feels himfelf divided be- 
tween the fear of rewarding ingratitude, and punifhing fidelity. 
This image is mod certainly infinitely beneath God, however it 
is that image, which he hath chofen to employ. What mail I 
do to thee Ephraim ? Ephraim, Judah, why do ye rend my 
heart alternately by your vices and virtues ? Why^ do ye not 
fuffer me either wholly to give myfelf to you, or wholly to de- 
tach my affections from you ? why do ye not let me give a free 
courfe either to my juftice or love ? Either let me glorify my- 
felf by your return, or by your ruin ? Your devotions tie my 
hands, your crimes inflame my wrath. Shall I deftroy a people, 
who have recourfe to my clemency ? Shall I preferve a people, 
who violate my laws ? What mail I do to thee Ephraim ? 
What fhall I do to thee Judah ? for thy goodnefs is as a mor- 
ning-cloud, and like the early dew it goeth away/' Saur. fer. 
torn. ii. fur les devotions paflageres- 

* " Suppofitions are principally ufeful in controverfy." No- 
thing elucidates a fubjeft more than this manner of difcuffing 
it : but then the fuppofitions mull: not be fanciful ; but well 
grounded. I will give examples of both. 

A certain writer publiihed in 1664 a pamphlet entitled The 
^hiakers unmq/ked s and applied to the people fo called, 1 Sam, 
xiv. 15. thus tranflated, and there was trembling, or quaking 
in the hoft, in the field, and among the people : the garrifons 
and the fpoylers, they alfo trembled, and the earth quaked 5 fo 
it was a very great trembling, or quaking. Now, how could 
thefe words operate againft the Englifh people, called quakers, 
unlets we fuppofe that the Philiftine army in the text were re- 
ligious quakers, and that the Englifh proteitants fo nick-named 
were, like the philiftine quakers, doomed to be deftroy ed by any 
Saul, or Jonathan, who fhould take it into his head to kill them ? 

This furious writer affirmed, that the Englifh quakers were 
the fpawne of Romifh frogs, Jefuites, and Francifcan fryers, 
Ktf, replied John Audland, one of the injured friends, " we 



( 427 ) 



For example. When you are fpeaking of the merit 
of good works, you may take this way of fuppofi- 

came to Briftol from the north, we were born in Weftmoreland, 
and have never been out of England.'' O rejoined their oppofer, 
your coming out of the north is a fhrewd argument of your bad- 
nefs. The Latin proverb faith, Omne malum ab Aquilone^ and 
the Englifh adagy is, All evil comes from the north, and the 
fcripture informs us Jer. i. 14. Out of the north an evil fhall 
break forth — iv. 6. I will bring evil cut out of the north — vi. 1. 
Evil appeareth out of the north — 22. Behold a people cometh 
from the north country." As all our writer's reafoning on 
thefe paffages fuppofes the prophet fpeaking of the north of En- 

fland, Audland very properly, as he exprefles it, " unmafked 
im, detected him, and took him with a lye in his mouth.'* 
Quak. unmaik'd by Will. Prynne of Swainfwick, efq. 

Gen. ui. 1 5. " The feed of the woman (hall bruile thy head, 
and thou [the ferpent] malt bruife his heel." " If we fuppofe 
our firit parents to understand' thefe words literally; and that God 
meant them fo to be under ft ood, this paiTage mull appear ab- 
solutely ridiculous, Do but imagine that you lee God coming 
to judge the-ofTenders ; Adam and Eve before him in the utmoft 
diftrefs ; that you hear God inflicting pains, and forrows. and 
mifery, and death upon the firft of human race ; and that in the 
. midft of all this fcene of woe and great calamity, you hear God 
foretelling with great folemnity a very trivial accident that 
mould fometimes happen in the world : that ferpents would be 
apt to bite men by the heels, and that men would be apt to re- 
venge themfelves by ftriking them on the head. In the name 
of God what has this trifle to do with the lofs of mankind, with 
the corruption of the natural and moral world, and the ruin of 
all the glory and happinefs of the creation ? Great comfort it 
was to Adam, doubtlefs, after telling him, that his days fhall be 
fhort and full of mifery, and his end without hope, to let him. 
know, that he mould now and then knock a fnake on the head, 
but not even that without paying dear for his poor victory, for 
the fnake mould often bite him by the heel. Adam furely 
could not under ft and this prophecy in this fenfe, though feme 
of his fons have fo underftood it ; a plain indication how much 
more fome men are concerned to maintain a literal interpretation 
of fcripture, than they are to make it fpeak common fenfe." 
Dean Sherlock's ufeand intent of prophecy. Difc 3. 

This excellent writer abounds with elucidating fuppoiitions 
in the difcourfes and differ tatioris above quoted, and the whole 
book exemplifies the rule laid down by Monf. Claude, in a very 
juft and beautiful manner. 

3 H % 



( *2S ) 



tion, and fay, Let us fuppofe, that Jefus Chrift and 
his apoftles held the doctrines of the church of Rome, 
and that they believed, men merited eternal life by 
their good works ; let us feppofe, that they intended 
to teach us this doctrine in the gofpels and epiftles, 
tell me, I befeech you, if upon this fuppohtion 
(which is preclieiy what our adverfaries pretend,) 
they ought to have affirmed what they have. Tell 
me, pray, do you believe yourfelf well and fufficient- 
ly inftructed in the doctrine of the merit of good 
works, when you are told, ivhen you have done all 
ibefe things wt arc unprofitable fervants I Again, 
when the example of a miferabie publican is pro- 
pofed to you, who prays, God be merciful to me a 
/inner, who fmites his bread, and dares not lift his 
eyes to heaven ; when he is placed in opposition 
to a pharifee, glorying in his works ; and when you 
are informed, the foft went down to his houfe jufii- 
fied rather than the other — when you are told, if it 
be by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace 
is 7io more grace ; if it be by zvorks, it is no more 
grace, otherwise work is no more work ; when you 
are told you are saved by grace through faith, and 
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God — when 
you are allured you are justified freely by grace, 
through the redemption* that is in Christ Jesus, not 
qf works lest any man should boast- — when you hear 
that to him that worketb not, but believeth on him, 
that justifitth the ungodly, his faith is counted for 
righteous)! ess— when you are taught to believe, the 
zcages of sin is death : but the gft of God is eter- 
nal life^—ieM me, I once more intreat you, can 

* DjsBrim :f merh. Some divines have fo little opinion of 
merit m a plan cf redemption, that they think, the incarnation 
•and merit of Ghrift was arbitrary, and not e flentially aeceSary 



you perfuade yourfelf, that Jefus Chrift and his a- 
poftles, by all thefe means, intended to teach you, that 
man acquires j unification, and a right to eternal life 
by the merit of his works ? * 

in the nature of things. This was the notion S. Bafil had of re- 
demption, and he has feveral followers. 

Others think their own merit neceiTary to recommend them to 
God. * True, Lord, fays Patricius, I am a (inner, ALL eugno- 
mono ton despoten. Very well, replies the Lord, a great re- 
ward is laid up in heaven for your good works.'* This is pre- 
cifely the notion of many moderns. They weigh down vice with 
virtue, and make a balance in their own favour. De mirac. 
dominie, imaginis in pUteo Mag. Ecclef: apud Combef. torn. i. 

Some imagine the merits of others neceflary. Hence the 
doctrine of fupererogation, relics, &c, &c We are not to fup- 
pofe, however, that all in the Greek and Roman church depend 
on the merits of others. " Dig I cannot, to beg I am aftiamed. 
Life is (hort. Dig now, for, if you would in the next world, you 
cannot : nor can you beg. The merits of one cannot profit ano- 
ther, No fleepy virgin's lamp can be fupplied from the oil of a« 
nother.'' S. Afterii Amafcae Epifc. omil. peri oikon. tes 
ADIKIAS. apud Combef. torn. i. 

The fame might be fbewn of the Roman divines : but the 
reformed churches alone profefs and really pra£Ufe the fcripture 
plan. They perform good works — deny the merit of them in 
regard to God— and depending on the merit of Chrift conciliate 
that with the free mercy of God. 

* Make Doctrinal fuppoftions, Bifhop Maffillon's fermon on 
Chrift's divinity is formed upon this plan, tc the glory and fpirit 
of the miniftry of Jefus Chrift, both prove his divinity. If Jefus 
Chrift were only a mere man. 

I- The glory of his miniftry would be an inevitable occafion of 
idolatry to us, and God himfelf would be chargeable with the 
error of thofe, who worfhip him. 

II. The fpirit of his miniftry would become a dreadful fnare to 
our innocence. 

L The glory of his miniftry. i. An illuftrious perfon was ex- 
pected by all mankind. 2. Promifed by the prophets. 3. When 
Chrift appeared, his birth, life, miracles, &cj were all grand, 
glorious, and unheard of, and all c'orrefponded with prophecy. 

II. The fpirit of his miniftry. f. He preached and praciifedholi- 
nefs, as even they, who deny his divinity, own. 2. The world 
received numberlefs advantages in confequence of his corning. 
3. He foretold many events ftnee fulfilled. If then we own the 
truth of the bible we mult own his divinity.' 7 It is only difguifmg 



( 430 ) 



You may alfo make fuch fiippofitions in morality 
* as well as in controverfy, in order to give greater 
weight to your exhortations, f 

this maflerly defence of Chrift's divinity to fpeak of it as the 
bounds prefcribed me permit. I transcribe fuch ikeletons with 
regret ; nor would I attempt to abridge fuch fermons at all, un- 
lefs I entertained hopes of ftirring up in fuch as have not feen 
them a defire to perufe them. I allow, fo little makes a God in 
this fallen church of Rome, that arguments for Chrift's divinity 
come in general with an ill grace from a papilt's pen : but this 
fermon is an exception. This fermon and one of Mr Saurin's on 
the fame fubjecl: have anfwered my enquiries concerning Chrift's 
divinity more fatisfa&orily than all I ever readbefide : perhaps 
becaufe they are fhort and plain. MafT. Serm. Avent. pour la 
circoncifion. 

* " You may make fuppofitions in morality.'' The following 
example from Heb, xi. i. Faith is the evidence of things not 
feen, in a fermon of a Profeflbr of Divinity at Geneva, is of this 
kind* c< The Word elegkos fignines an argument, or a proof, 
which when good may be faid to render a matter evident, to 
give it demonftration. Perfuafion of the truth of a fact is ana- 
logous to light, Abraham thus faw Chrift's day. Hence comes 
the efficacy of Chriftian faith, Suppofe I . Ye faw the fufferings 
of hell, when fin attacks you, would ye dare to yield to temp- 
tation for the fake of pleafure ? 2. Suppofe ye were admitted for 
a little while to the felicity of heaven, would ye part with it for 
temporal gain ? 3. Suppofe God, with all the magnificent en- 
ligns of his glory vifible to you, would ye venture to offend 
him ? 4. Suppofe the day of judgment come, and yourfelves on 
trial, mould ye have any inclination to fm ? 5. Suppofe your- 
felves dying, would ye wifh to ftupify yourfelves by finning ? 
Now faith prefents all thefe objects to thofe, who believe the 
gofpel, with as much vivacity, as if they were prefent and vifi- 
ble faith therefore prevents fin." The preacher proceeds to fhew 
that faith alfo pfoduceth holinefs. The above example regards 
the rule of fuppofition, we do not propofe it as a pattern of re- 
gular arrangement. Sermons par Antoine Leger a Geneve, torn, 
i. S. 1, 

f "Make fuppofitions to anfwer moral ends.*' Thus Mr 
Saurin on Peter's firft fermon to the Jews, " Acts ii. When they 
heard thefe things they were pricked in the heart, and faid — 

Men and brethren what fhall we do i v You cannot call to 

mind S. Peter's fermon without envying the primitive Chrifti- 
ans the precious advantage of hearing this preacher, and without 
faying to yourfelves, how would fuch exhortations have pene- 



{ m ) 



XXII. 

Guard against Objections. 

There are very few texts of fcripture where this 
topic may not be made ufe of> and it is needlefs to 

trated our hearts? bat, my brethren, will you allow me to 

afk you one queftion ? Should you like to hear thefe apoftolic 
men ? Would you attend their fermons ? . And, to fay all in one 
word, do you wifh S. Peter was now in this pulpit ? Paufe a 
little before you anfwer this queftion. — Compare the tafte of 
this auditory with the genius of fuch a preacher, your timor- 
ous delicacy with that noble liberty which made him fpeak fa 
powerfully again ft the vices of his own times. For our parts 
we, who think we know you very well, we are convinced, that 
no preacher would be lefs agreeable to you than S. Peter— of 
all the difcourfes that can be addreffed to you, there would per- 
haps be none lefs favourably received than fuch as fhould be 
formed upon the plan of this, which this apoftle preached at 
Jerufalem. 

One wants in every fermon to difcover fome new truth, and 9 
under pretence of fatisfying the laudable defire of improving in 
knowledge, feeks to be diverted where he ought to be cenfured* 
Another wifhes, we would pleafe him, and would have us adorn 
our difcourfes, not in order to gain a more eafy accefs to his 
heart, not to enable us by an innocent artifice to make ufe of 
his love of pleafure to deftroy the love of inordinate pleafure it- 
felf: but to flatter a kind of frivoloufnefs, which people love to 
have indulged till a devotional exercife is finilhed, when they 
may plunge into more fenfual joys. Almoft ail defire to be a- 
mufed, and lulled afleep-, and if nobody is fo grofs as to fay 9 
Flatter my evil habits, ltupify my confcience, praife my crimes* 
there is almoft no one who does not wifh it in effect. A prin- 
ciple of I know not what refined fecurity makes us defire to be 
cenfured to a certain degree, fo that the receiving of a light emo- 
tion may make us prefume that we have practiced the duties of 
repentance, and yield us an aflurance, which we could not pof- 
fibly have obtained by hearing encomiums on our vices. We 
would have the wound touched* but not probed. We like the 
application of emollients, but cannot bear to have the fire and 
the knife go to the bottoni of the wound. 

Ah how little would the apoftles have preached in your tafte? 
figure to yourfelves thofe holy men defcending this pulpit, after 
having walked in your public places^ after having known your 



C 432 ) 



mention examples, they will occur to every one 
without much reflection, * 

domeftic fecrets, after having feen through the coverings of 
certain criminal ad ions, after having been informed of certain 
myfteries, which I dare not even name, and of certain fplendid 
crimes committed in the face of the fun. Do you imagine, that, 
knowing all thefe, thefe holy men would have ftudied to gratify 
your talle for preaching, and have fubmitted to thofe laws, 
which you choofe to impofe on your preachers ? Would they, 
think ye, have gratified your euriofity by curious difquifitions? 
Would they, think ye, have conjured you not to defpair ? Do 
ye think they would have been content to have told you in a ' 
vague and fuperficial manner, that you mult be virtuous ? Would 
they have finifhed their fermons by pathetically exhorting you 
not to form the leaft doubt concerning your falvation ? Ah, my 
brethren ! methinks I hear thefe holy men animated with the 
fame fpirit which made them fay with fo much boldnefs to the 
murderers of Chrift, " you have taken this holy Jefus and with 
wicked hands have crucified and flain him, methinks I hear $, 
Peter, &c. &c. Saurin fer. pour la pentecote, torn. v. 

My apology for fuch long extracts from Monfieur Saurin is 
perhaps weak enough ; it is my fondnefs for that writer. 

* Guard again/t objections. There is as muchreafon for giving 
this advice to preachers as there is for faying to an architect: go- 
ing to build, guard againfl: winds and ftorms ; you build in fum- 
mer and retire ; but your building muft (land abroad all winter. 
It would be folly to fuppofe, that any religious truth how de- 
monstrable foever, could ftand in this world free from objec- 
tions. All truth's touch fomebody's intereft, and touch the 
fecular intereft of half mankind, and you touch their bone and 
their fleih, and were you a God, they would curfe you to your 
face. Perhaps no fubject is of greater importance to truth in 
the chriftian church than that of benefices, and perhaps no pro- 
teftant has written a better book on beneficiary matters, than that 
publifhed by Fra Paoli Sarpi, who lived and died in the com- 
munion of the church of Rome, the moft moniecl and the melt 
corrupt of all. All communities allow the truths contained in 

it in theory ; indeed who can deny them ? but in practice 

Ay, in practice, father Paul ! we have a great many very 

weighty objections which require a moft 

mature deliberation. Lay hands fuddenly on no man — — 

You fay, " the apoftles never deputed a man to any ecclefiafti- 
cal charge, who was not firft elected by the whole church col- 
lected together.' ' You affirm, " the apoftles gave themfelves 

to prayer, and to the miniftry o£ the word, and left fecular affairs 



( 433 ) 



Remark, however, obje&ions muft be natural, 
and popular, not far-fetched, nor too philofophical ; 
in a word, they muft be fuch as it is abfolutely ne- 
ceffary to obferve and refute. * 

to fecular men; bat now the chief prelates of the "church, 
quite other fort of men, attend the government of temporal 
things, and leave the office of preaching and teaching the word 
of God, and the doctrine of the gofpel to friars and cheap in- 
ferior priefts. M Upon my conlcience, father Paul ! I cannot 

fee the evidence or the utility of your reafoning. - - Hear me my 
friend ! - - - Yours is an interleaved edition of Fra Paoli on be- 
neficiary matters, and, as you are a patron of the arts as well as 
a chriftian clergyman, your connoiffeur left eye beguiles your 
clerical right eye, and fixes both on the beautiful copper-plate on 
the oppofite page. That copper-plate is worth three thoufand 
guineas annually at the bank of England. Ah ! father Paul ! 
beneficiary matters are divifible into two parts — there are bene- 
ficial bankhills as well as beneficiary demonftration ! Serioufly, 
I mean to remind young minifters— -that, in guarding their 
doctrines againft objections, they fhould ftudy men as well as 
books, and confider what it will coft fome people to allow their 
demon flrations. 

A preacher may excite objections againft his doctrine by an 
injudicious way of propofmg it. Caflander, Grotius, Bifhop 
Forbes, and many others have propofed a reunion of the reform- 
ed churches with the church of Rome ; but the very manner, in 
which they propofed it, has created objections againft a reunion 
ftronger and more numerous than any, that lie againft a fepara- 
tion. — " The difference, fays one, lies more in terms than in 
things. — There is no difference, fays another ; Archbifhop 
Sheldon and Blandford Bifhop of Worcefter both told the 
Duchefs of York that they prayed for the dead every day, al- 
though they did not own it. Barrow Bifhop of St Afaph, and 
Thorndike prebendary of Weftminfter caufed requeftsfor prayers 
for their fouls to be put upon their grave ftones. Forbes wrote 
for purgatory. Now fay they, is itreafonable to feparate from a 
church for teaching doctrines, which we ourfelves fuffer to be 
taught in our own ?" To all which we reply. Such propofals 
of reunion to Home as come from men, who fo ftate the cafe as 
to prove their total ignorance of the real grounds of feparation, 
ace more objectionable than the feparation itfelf. SeeEfTay for 
Catholic Communion 1704. 

Objections againft a doctrine may be created by an aukwward 
manner of attempting to prove it. 

Objections, which are known to lie againft a doctrine, may 
be ftrengthened by being omitted. 



( 434 ) 



They muft be propofed in a clear and fimple 
ftyle without rhetorical exaggerations'; yet not un- 
adorned nor imaffecTing. f 

* " State thofe objections only, which it is neceffary to re- 
fute-" Some divines of modeft and moderate principles have 
thought proper to ftate objections without any detign of refuting 
them j and, it mould feem, they have acted wifely in doing fo- 
For i . It is certain, there are many literary enquiries relative to 
the bible, and feveral doctrines contained in it, which are, and 
ever will be indnTolubk myfteries. 2. Thefe will always be lia- 
ble to objections from all the enemies, and from many of the 
friends of revelation. Enemies will naturally complain ; and 
fome friends have no ideas of myfteries in religion. 3. In this 
ftate of affairs, two forts of believers will go to diiputing. The 
one will urge objections, the other will endeavour to remove 
them ; and in their great zeal will overfhoot the mark, by at- 
tempting to elucidate what is naturally beyond elucidation ; or 
by giving folutions more intricate and objectionable than the 
objections themfelves. Here then, 4. Modeft moderate men 
ftep in, ftate the difficulties on both fides, urge home the im~ 
poffibility of obtaining demonfl ration, prove that the difficul- 
ties in queftion ought not to form even a prejudice againft reve- 
lation, and turning the whole into moral ufe exhort the dispu- 
tants to ceafe jarring about what none of them can determine. 
Thefe divines are generally known in this world by odious ap- 
pellations, and quaint names of flander and abufe, by which 
their fiery weak brethren think proper to diftinguifh and punifh 
them : but by what name they will be known in the next world, 
the prince of peace, who blefled the peacemakers, alone can tell ! 

Saurin was one of this clafe. His fermon on predeftination ? 
which we have elfewhere quoted, may ferve to explain our 
meaning in regard to doctrine : and his preface to his difTerta- 
tions on the bible, torn. i. will {hew our meaning in regard to 
literary matters. " An ancient book — written in a dead lan- 
guage— in which no ether author has written — fpeaking of ac- 
tions — cuftoms— places— and nations— of which no veftige re- 
mains — is it fl range that there fhculd be paffages in fuch a book 
beyond the erudition of interpreters !"' Saur. Diff. torn, u 
pref. 

f i( State objections without rhetorical exaggerations." In 
all argumentation it is extremely important to diftinguifh be- 
tween reafon and paffion. Reafon ftates facts, and draws con- 
clusions ; paffion colours them ; and, if we be incautious, the 
-colouring will miflead us. The fame cool equity, that is re- 
nin lite in a court of judicature^ ought to be exercifed in a chris- 
tian pulpit. 



( 435 ) 

I think, it is never advifeable to flate objections, 
and defer the anlwers to them till another oppor- 
tunity ; anfvver them diredtly, forcibly and fully. 

Here, it may be afked, whether in ftating objec- 
tions to be anfwered it be proper to propofe them 
all together at once, and then come to the anfwers, or 
whether they mould be propofed and anfwered one 
by one ? I fuppofe difcretional good fenfe muft ferve 
for both guide and law upon this fubjedt. If three 
or four objections regard only one part of the text, if 
each may be propofed and anfwered in a few words, 
it would not be amiis to propofe thefe objections all 
together, diftinguifking them however by firft — fe- 
cond — third — this may be done agreeably: but if 
thefe objections regard different parts of the text, or 
different matters,. if they require to be propofed at full 
length, and if it would alfo take fbme time toanfwer 
them, it would bean impertinence to propofe them 
all together. In fuch a cafe they muft be propofed 
and anfwered apart, f 

f u Some objections muft be ftated feparately, and others all 
together." That ineftimable fet of fermons againft popery, 
which was preached by our minifters at Salter's hall in 1735, 
affords a beautiful exemplification of our author's rule. The 
fet contains our objections againft popery. Each of thefe was 
propofed apart. Mr Barker opened the lecture with a general 
charge of corruption — Do&ot Chandler followed, and objected 
again ft the papal notes of the church — Mr Neal came next and 
deftroyed popifh fupremacy— Mr Smith examined infallibility 
— Doctor Wright confidered tradition — Doctor Harris tranfub* 
fliation, and fo on* Each article is an objection againft popery, 
and it was fair and proper to examine each apart ; but it was not 
neceffaryin examining each article tofeparate the ieveral objec- 
tions, that there are againft each, and to refute them apart. They 
are, therefore, in fome of the fermons {tared altogether. Thus 
Doctor Harris. " The Trent cacechifm fays — That the facfa- 
ment is the true body of Chrift, which was born of thevirgin 
and is now in heaven, together with his foul and divinity— Thai 

3 1 



( 436 ) 



XXIII. 

Consider Characters of — -Majesty — Mean- 
ness — Infirmity — Necessity — Utility— 
Evidence, &c. * 

Majesty and Magnanimity. 

Take an example of this from John xiv. i . Let 
not your heart be troubled^ you believe in God^ believe 

it is entire in every part of the bread, and every drop of the 
wine — that no part of the fub (lance of bread and wine remains— 
that the accidents of bread and wine, which do remain, are in 
no fubjecT:, but exift by themfelves in a wonderful manner, and 
which is not too curioufly to be inquired into - - - This is the 
point I am to debate at this time." It wasfmartly faid by Doc- 
tor Hughes in the next fermon, which was againft the popifh ve- 
neration of faints; " there is one faint, who, I fear, does not 

come in for his fhare of devotions it is one Saint Mathurin. 

who, it feems, has an admirable noftrum for the cure of folly." 

* Confider charaElers. As there are certain perfonal qualities 
peculiar to each individual, and to defcribe thefe is to characte- 
rize the man, fo there are certain peculiarities, which belong to 
expreflion, and chefe peculiars, whatever they are, are the cha- 
jadlers, or diftinguifhing marks of each expreflion. There are 
as many of thefe as there are intelligent emotions, which exprefs 
themfelves in language *, for proper language is all expreflion of 
emotion. Even tones, without articulation, are character iftical, 
that is to fay, they exprefs fear, joy, anger, and fo on ; and there 
are cafes in which fllence is charadteriftical. Our author's rule, 
then, is founded in the nature of things. 

There is a kind of fympathy between intelligence and expref? 
fion. Mean thoughts cannot be dignified by language, and 
much language only gives the whole the air of fhrivelled fruits. 
On the contrary, magnanimity of thought fhines through larir 
guage juft as fome lovely female features fparkle through 2. thin 
gauze vail. The fympathy lies not in the quantity : but in the 
fort of ftyle. Longinus treats of this in his ninth fe£tion, and 
calls fublime language megalophrosunes apekema. The holy 
fcriptures inculcate the fame idea : M a fool's voice is known by 
a multitude of words," a fool's fpeech, or ftyle is characterized 
by an exuberance of terms—" hearken to the voice of my 



( 437 ) 



alfo in me. Thefe words are chara&erized by a ma- 
jefl\\ which exalts Jefus Chrift above all ordinary 
pallors, and above all the prophets ; for who be- 
ll de the ion of God could fay, Ye believe in God, be- 
lieve alfo in me ? Thefe words equal Jefus Chrift to 
the eternal father, and make him the object of our 
faith and confidence as well as the father ; for they 
imply that faithful fouls may repofe an entire con- 
fidence in his power, protection and government, 
and that the fliadow of his w 7 ings will diffipate the 
iorrows of their minds, and leave no more room for 
fear. * 

words : vi Job xxxiv. 16. — " The rulers knew not the voices of 
the prophets r A&s xiii. 27. — <f Paul's epiftles are weighty and 
powerful :" 2 Cor. x, 1 o. — iC The fheep know the fhepherd's 
voice 1" John x. 4. 

* " Character of maied-v-'' It was prophefied of theMeffiah ? 

he (hall feed in the rnajeity of the name of the Lord his Godj" 
that is to fay, he fhall teach a fublime doctrine, and he {hall 
rule like God. with an irrefiit ible authority. Micah v. 4. Je- 
ius of Nazareth exactly anfwers this description. The truth of 
his doctrine is the fublirnity of it, and the demonilration, that 
attends it, carries along with it the foft impelling fway of irre- 
fiitible conviction, forming principles of felf-fuafion (if I may fo 
fpeak) within the foul of each difciple. There are various de- 
grees of the fublimity of truth. The whole truth of a gnat or 
an acorn woula form a noble body of fcience : what rauft the 
truth of God be ! Him no man had ever feen ; he inhabited light 
that none could approach ; yet all human felicity lay in the know- 
ledge of him. The only begotten of -the- Father was full of true 
ideas of him, and, being alfo full of grace, he declared him to usj 
declared the moft fublime fubjecl: in the moft majeilic manner. 
It was " the voice of the Lord, powerful and full of majefty/' 
Pfalm xxix. 4. 

The text above is, as our author obferves, no incompetent 
proof of our Lord's divinity . Te believe in God - - - believe alfo 
in me. What an afibciation of ideas ! Had ever prophet pre- 
fumed to utter fuch language as this? This is one of the many 
texts, that difgrace the character of Chrift in the lame propor- 
tion as his divinity is denied. He aflbciated himfelf as a ground 
of confidence with the Father, and propofes both together to the 



( 4S3 ) 



You fee alfo a chara&er of tendernefs and infinite 
love towards his difciples, which appears in the af« 
furance, with which he infpires them, and in the 
promife, which he tacitly makes them, of always 
powerfully fupporting, and never forfaking them. 
The fame characters, or others like them, may be 
obferved in all this difcourfe of our Saviour, which 
goes on to the end of the fifteenth chapter. As in 
thefe words, / am the way, the truth, and the life — 
in thefe, He that hath feen me, Philip y hath feen the 
father— in thefe, Whatfoever ye afk in my name I 
will do it — and again, in thefe, / will no£ leave you 
orphans * / will come to you. In general, we fee al- 

faithof his difciples. A dangerous aflbcration if foe were a mere 
snan ! 

This text affords a proof of that obfcurity, which the poverty 
of language neceffariiy fheds on fentiment. The copious greek 
language, which makes a thoufand words out of one verb, is af- 
ter all obliged to exprefs an indicative and an imperative fenti- 
aient by the fame term ; and there are cafes, in which it will be- 
hard to come at the precife idea of the fpeaker. The verb pis- 
TEUETe in this text is of this kind ; and its ambiguity of mood 
has given rife to four readings of the text — 

I. Ye do believe inGod : ye do alfo believe in me: be not 
troubled then — 2. Believe in God: believe alfo in me; and 
give yourfelves no farther trouble — 3. Believe in God : ye do be- 
lieve in me j thus you will be free from anxiety — 4. Ye do be- 
lieve in God; believe alfo in me ; and make your felves eafy. 
Our beft critics adopt the fecond reading, becauie it is not ufual 
in fcripture ftyle to ufe the fame verb in the fame fer.tence in 
both moods — and becaufe it agrees with the apparent defign of 
the fpeaker, which was to ftrengthen the courage and comfort 
of the difciples by ftrengthening their faith. Vid. Poli Synopf, 
in loc. 

* J will not leave yau orphans. This, as our author juftly ob- 
serves, is characterized with tendernefs. Chrift is a perfon of 
genuine affection ; fenfibility to human woe is his real charac- 
ter. To exprefs this he defcribes his emotions by imagery of 
the tendered kind. Is there in nature a more pitiable object 
than an expofed orphan ? Is there a nobler idea than this of an 



( 439 ) 



moft in every verfe, majefty, tendernefs, love of ho- 
linefs, confidence of victory, and other fach charac-* 
ters, which it is important to remark * 

everliving Father, an everlafting patron ? I venture to alter and: 
adapt four lineo to the fubject. 

, with head declin'd, 

Like a fair flow'r furcharg'd with dew, he wept. 
And words addrefs'd feem'd into tears diflblv'd, 
Wetting the borders of his homely garb. 

Milton. Samf. Agon, 

A ftudent of divinity cannot help obferving four things on this 
fubject. I. A Angularity of character inChtift. He had every- 
thing human in the higheft perfection. His joys were grave — 
his griefs were juft — -his gentlenefs and his goodnefs, his inflex- 
bility and his humanity, all his excellencies were in perfect har« 
mony with each other, and all moved on in the folemn ftate of 
all the other complete works of nature. — 2» The inhumanity of 
fome of his pretended difciples. Compare the fentiments and 
language of pretended patrons of the church with thofe of our 
divine patron. Unfeeling authors of ecclefiaftical woe ! who 
taught you to blufter, and order, and curfe in the church ! — 3© 
The true character of an original difciple of Jefus. Like his di- 
vine mailer his foul diflblves at human mifery, and his beneficent 
hands relieve it* Conformity to modes and forms may make 
perfona, a malk in grammar, and a parfon in law : but, good 
God ! how different is evangelical fenfibility of foul from all 
this !— 4. The nature and ufeof affection in a preacher. O how- 
deep into the heart go thofe periods, which are fown in the un- 
forced, uninvited tears of the preacher ! S. Paul s laft fer- 
mon to the Ephefians was delivered in the true fpirit of his pat- 
tern. He delivered it with many tears ; the people wept fore 
—fell on his neck — kilTed the departing fervant of God — and 
forrowed moft of all for the words, which he fpake, that they 
mould fee his face no more- Acts xx. 18, 37, 38. 

* Gbfervation of characters is important. The auguft character 
of the Mefliah has been attempted by impoftors* (See Jojeph* 
de bell. Jud. L. vi. B. 5. & 2.) Now as it is important to dif- 
tinguilh the true Chrift from falfe Chrifts, fo it mud be of 
confequence thoroughly to inform chriftians of the real charac- 
ter of our inimitable Jefus. Moreover, as he is to be humbly 
imitated by his difciples, it is necelTary they mould be thorough- 
ly acquainted with their model. See voL i. p. 34.4. 



( 440 ) 



Meanness and Infirmity. 

You will very often obferve characters of mean* 
nefs and infirmity in the words and actions of the 
difciples of Jefus Chrift. As when they afked him. 
Wilt thou at this time rejlore again the kingdom to 
Ifrael I Ads i. 6. You fee, even after the refur- 
re&ion of Jefus Chrift, they were full of that low 
and carnal idea, which they had entertained, of a 
temporal Meffiah. -f 

f The idea of a temporal JMeJJiah is mean and carnal. This mean idea 
hath poffefled the minds of profelfed difciples of Chrift in all 
ages. The apoftles foon ftruggled through fuch low fecular no- 
tions : but a very large fuccelhon of their pretended followers 
have expired incurable under this difeafe. They have few ideas 
of piety, and none of dignity detached from the worldly parade 
of rich endowments, palaces, cathedrals, founding titles and 
gaudy habits ; as if all religion were nothing but a raree-fhow. 
The pagans reproached the primitive chriftians for not building 
fpacious temples. Ladtantius, Arnobius, Minutius Felix, and 
others juftified the people of God by {hewing— the nature of the 
deity — the kind of worftiip, that he required— the inutility and 
danger of pomp in religion ; and fo on. After Conftantine ar- 
rived at the throne, riches were fquandered with unparalleled 
profufion in building and adorning public edifices of religion. 
Eufebius, who preached at the dedication of that at Tyre, was 
fo infatuated as to affirm, that in the fplendor of that temple 
was accomplifhed the prophecy of Haggai, who had faid, the 
glory of the latter houfefhali be greater than that of the former, ii. 
9. that is, according to this court chaplain, chriftians mail build 
nobler temples than Jews builded. Full of this puerile plan, they 
imitated the old temple. There was a porch for ftrangers, ca- 
techumens, and penitents. There was a choir, like the holy place, 
for believers ; and emperors had (tails at the upper ends. There 
was alfo a fanduary, or moft holy place for ecclefiafticks, and 
before them ftood the communion table covered with finery, 
after the fafhion of the old mercy-feat. Each part was feparated 
from the other by baluftrades, gilt and adorned. Such palaces 
would have been difgraced by the neat plain fimplicity of com- 
mon drefs, and now that the church was a palace churchmen 
muft drefs like princes, and bring in the old Aaronical habits. 
Men of real abilities and true piety fled; for they knew their 
Lord's kingdom was not. of this world. How could the rem- 



( Ul ) 



You alfo lee a rajh curiofity in their dcfiring to 
know the times and feafons of thofe great events^ 
which God thought fit to conceal. 

Obferve again Peter's virion. A great fheet was 
let down from heaven, and rilled with all forts of a- 
nimals ; a voice faid to him, Rife Peter, kill and eat; 
to which he anfwered, Not fo Lord^for I have ne- 
ver eaten any thing that is common and unclean. 
You fee in this anfwer an over-fcrupulous confcience 
all embarraifed with legal ceremonies ; and a very 
defective imperfect knowledge of gofpel-liberty. 

There is almoft an infinite number of texts in the 
new teftament, where fuch infirmities appear, and 
you muft not fail to remark them in order to prove, 
— i. That grace is compatible with much human 
weaknefs. — 2. That heavenly light arifes by degrees 
upon the mind, and that it is with the new man as 
with the natural man, who is born an infant, Iifps in 
his childhood, and arrives at perfection infenfibly 
and by little and little. — 3. That the ftrongeft and 
fartheft advanced Chriflians ought to bear the infir- 
mities of the weak, fince God himfelf does not 
break the bruifed reed> nor quench the fmoakhigfax* 
This he was pleafed to exemplify in the molt am- 
ple manner in the perfon of Jefus Chrift, when he 
was upon earth. % 

nant fillupthe time devoted to religion ? A ritual muft be pre« 
pared, a price paid for reading it ; and, left mens minds mould 
hereafter revolt, the whole muft be endowed with eftates, and 
guarded by penalties. Thus rofe popery according to the pro- 
phecies that went before. S. Jerom, S. Bernard, and many o- 
thers have clearly (hewn, that all pomp is injurious to real reli« 
gion, - We fpeak of pomp in religion only. 

X Characters of meannefs and infirmity. It mould feem, there 
are two dangerous extremes incident to obfervations of this 
kind. Some divines, on the one hand, deny thefe characters in 
the penmen of fcripture, left by allowing them they mould 

3 K.' 



< 442 ) 



& 



Necessity. 



In regard to neceffity, you may very often remark 
this in explaining the do&rines of religion : as when 
you fpeak of the muTion of Jefus Chrift into the 
world — -of his familiar converfation with men— of 
his death- — refurre&ion — and afcenf^on to heaven, 
&c. for you may not only confider the truth, but 
alfo the neceffity of each ; and by this mean open a 
moft beautiful field of theological argument and elu- 
cidation. % 

The fame may be affirmed of fending the com- 
forter, that is, the holy ghoft into the world ; in ex- 
weaken the evidences of their infpiration. Thanks be to God 
the biblical writers have better claims to infpiration than any 
that can arife from grammar or rhetoric of ftyle, or even at places 
from elevation of fentiment, or abfolute perfection of moral rec- 
titude. They never pretended to place the evidences of their 
miflion on fuch precarious grounds. They lofe nothing of their 
dignity by our allowing Mr Claude's rule. The other extreme 
lies in calling all that meannefs and infirmity, which does not 
fquare with our arbitrary laws cf dignity and magnanimity* 
Writers of this clafs are very free in making trammels for a- 
poilles to amble in : but the attempt is ram, and generally dis- 
graceful to the undertaker. 

% Neceffity* This is one of the many abftracl: terms, which 
Hand for things, that are not as though they were. Mr Claude 
feems to take it in general for what is fit and proper in the na- 
ture of things, and what therefore, is an eflential part of the 
whole. S. Paul illuftrates the gofpel by this topic in his e- 
piftle to the Hebrews — There is made of neceflity a change of 
the law— -it is of neceflity this man have fomewhat to offer — 
there mud of neceflity be the death of the teftator, Heb. vii. I2» 
viii. 3. ix. 16. 

In this plain popular fenfe, it {hould feem, the word neceffity 
is friendly to religion : but in its metaphyfical meaning it is a 
fource of unprofitable difputation, curious as chafms in rocks* 
and like them dangerous to common travellers. See Butler's 
Analogy, ch. v. Locke's E flay, ii. 21. Limborch-~Law-~Le- 
Jbnitz— Clarke*-Hobbes— Spinoza, &e« &c. 



{ 4*3 ) 

plaining thefe words, I will pray the father and he 
Jh all give you another comforter, John xiv. 16. You 
may very properly confider the neceffity of this com- 
forter; either becaufe without his light and help we 
can never releafe ourfelves from the bondage of fin 
and fatan — or becaufe without his affiftance all that 
Jefus Chrift has done in the ceconomy of falvation 
would be entirely ufelefs to us. You may alfo ob- 
ferve the neceffity of his eternal abode with us— -be- 
caufe it is not enough to be once converted by his 
efficacious power, we need his continual pre fence and 
efficacy to carry on and fmilhthe work of fanctiftca- 
tion ; otherwise we mould quickly relapfe into our 
firft condition. 

Utility. 

Where a thing does not appear ajbfolutely neceflary, 
you may remark its utility : as— in fome particular 
miracles of Jefus Chrift — in fome peculiar afflictions 
of the faithful — in the manner in which S. Paul was 
converted — and in an infinite number of fubje&s 
which prefent themfelves to a preacher to be difcuf- 
fed * 

* Obferve utility. According to our author it was abfojutely 
necefiary for the Meffiah to prove his miffion by miracles ; but 
it was not abfolutely necefiary for him to work them in this viU 
lage rather than in that. It is obfolutely necelTary for believers 
to be afflicted : but it is not necefiary for each believer to fufFer 
the fame kind and the fame degree of affliction. The converfion 
of Saul was necelTary : but the manner of it was not fo. Thus 
by diftinguilhing two forts of actions he conciliates neceffity and 
free agency. Thus we affirm in general— private prayer is ne- 
cefiary : the time and place of offering it arbitrary — charity to 
the poor is necelTary: the way of adminiitering it arbitrary : and 
fo on. All this is plain, popular, and edifying ; and here on thefe 
fubjects the pulpit fhould paufe. Metaphyseal refinements may 
proceed in private, or in the fchools, a great deal farther j and, 

gK 2 



{ 444 ) 



Evidence* 

Evidence muft be particularly prefled in articles, 
which are diiputed, or which are likely to be contro-* 
verted, * For example, Were you to treat of the 

if the inveftigator lofe himfelf very little damage will be done: 
but to puzzle and perplex plain chriftians with the exquifite fub- 
tilties oi the fchools is a molt intolerable abufe of divinity. 

* Evidence, Our author fuppofes, evidence arifes to fome 
truths from furrounding circumftances — as from place— manner of 
expreffioh— &c. &c. 

Evidence muft be urged in controverted points. It is fafhionable 
with many divines to boaft of their averfion to controverfy, and 
to make atnerit of teaching only fuch doctrines as are not difpu- 
table. What a poor piece of bufmefs is this ! Is there any one 
dodtrine of natural or revealed religion, which is not controver- 
ted ? Does not every deift deny our bible, and every atrjeift the 
being of our God ? A man, therefore, who determines to teach 
only undifputed articles, determines ipfi.fablo to teach nothing 
at all. 

The infpired writings do not countenance any fuch notions. 
The whole Jewifh religion is ftyled Jehovah's controverfy, Hof, 
v. i- Micah vi. 2. Jer. xxv. 31. The Jewifh polity considered 
all civil and ecclefiaftical matters as controvertible, and provided 
very properly for the decifion of all cafes. 2 Chron. xix. 8, &c. 
The whole book of Job is a controverfy. The miniftry of our 
Saviour was a perpetual controverfy. S. Paul's epiftles are, moft 
of them, controverfial. The apoftles came at truth by much dif- 
puting among themfelves, A£ts xv. 7. and they convinced Jews 
and Gentiles by difputing with both. Acts xvii. 17. xix. 8. 

2. Others hate difputes, becaufe, all faintifh as they are, all 
devoted to the will of God, all deyoured with zeal for his glory, 
and the good of precious fouls, they hate (fuch is their iniufter- 
able arrogance !) they hate to be contradicted. To doubt their 
infallibility, to difpute their oracular declarations, to think dif- 
ferently, and to dare to inform others of your reafons for doing 
fo, what is this but the black mark of reprobation ! 

3. Others, again, declaim againft difputing their doclrines to 
fave themfelves thedifgrace of expofing their ignorance, or the 
labour of examining, underftanding, and defending their own 
thefes. Lazinefs, pride, and intolerance diftinguifh thefe three 
forts of placid divines. 

4. There are others, who diftinguifh between controverfy and 
the temper 1 in which it is ufuail y conducted j and, as they ob - 



( 245 > 



fecoiid commandment in oppofition to the cuftom 
and practice of worfhipping images in the church of 
Rome, you mould prefs the evidence of the words. 
As, i. It has pleafed God to place this command not 
in fome obfcure part of revelation : but in the moral 
law, in that law, every word of which he caufed to 
proceed from the midft of the flames, 

2. He ufes not only the term image, but likenefs, 
and fpecifies even the likenefles of all the things in 
the world, of thofe which are in heaven above, of 
thofe which are in the earth beneath, and of thofe 
which are under the earth. 

3. In order to prevent all the frivolous objections 
of the human mind, he goes yet farther, not only 
forbidding the worfhipping of them, but alfo the 
making ufe of them in any manner of way ; and, 
which is more, he even forbids the making of them. 
Thou Jhalt not bow down thyfelf to them. Thou Jhalt 
not ferve them. Thou Jhalt not make unto thee any 
graven image, &c. 

4. Add to all this, that the Lord fubjoined the 
higheft i?iterejls to enforce it. He intereited herein 
his majefty, his covenant, and his infinite power; 

rfor (fays he) / am Jehovah thy God. He goes far- 
ther, and interefts his jealoufy, that is, that inexora- 

ferve, that few men have thofe generous, liberal, benign difpofi- 
tions, which are efienrial qualities of a good controverfial chri> 
ftian, they think it more conducive to the general good to decry 
a difputatious fpirit , by which they intend jnot to fupprefs inquiry, 
debate, difpute, controverfy : but the wicked tempers, which ge- 
nerally animate them. 

There are in fome of our churches profeffed meetings of chri- 
ftians for the purpofe of debating a point of theology, or a portion 
of fcripture, or a cafe of confcience, and thefe, properly managed 
with coolnefs, candour, gentle and kind difpofltions, have often 
been productive of mutual edification. See " Dr. Owen's praclu 
cafes of confcience refoivedat church-meetings. 



{ 446 ) 



blejuftice, which avenges affronts offered to his love. 
Yea, in order to touch us ftill more fenfibly, he even 
goes fo far as to intereft our children, threatening us 
with that terrible wrath, which does not end with the 
parents, but paffes down to their pofterity. What 
could the Lord fay more plainly and evidently to 
fhew that he would fuffer no image in his religious 
worfhip ? After all this, is it not the moft criminal 
prefumption to undertake to diftinguifli in order to 
elude the force of this commandment ? 

You may, if you choofe, over and above all this, 
add Mofes's explication of this command in the 
fourth of Deuteronomy. P 

You may alfo ufe the fame character of evidence 
when you explain feveral paffages, which adverfa- 
ries abufe — as thefe words, this is my body which is 
broken for you— and thefe in the fixth of John, eat 
the Jlejh of the fori of man and drink his blood — and 
thofe paffages alfo in St James, which fpeak of j uni- 
fication by works — for in treating thefe paffages in 
oppofition to the falfe fenfes, which the church of 

* cc Explain the fecond commandment." Abbe Pluche 
fpeaking of idolatry fays, " tbi&hiftory of the extravagancies of 
our forefathers does indeed prefent the reader with a deplorable 
profpet~t : hut it may methinks engage our curiofity, not only 
by the novelty of the infights it gives us into the origin of this 
fenfelefs worfhip, but it is of greater concern to piety, by fetting 
in a good light the infinite fuperiority of the instructions of 
chriftianity above thofe of philofophy. We fhall fee the latter 
wandering from age to age, heaping new errors inceffantly upon 
the firft, and more and more lofing fight of truth or criminally 
detaining it captive ; then authorizing men to adore all and eve- 
ry one of the parts of the univerfe, and at laft inclining them to 
adore nothing at all. Chriftianity is the only doctrine, that 
ever attacked idolatry with efficacy, rendered augurs contempti- 
ble, funk the credit of aftrology, made the perplexing fuperfti- 
tions that tyrannized over the univerfe fall to the ground, and 
even rectified the reafon of thofe who did not believe the gofpel " 
Hift. of the Heavens, v. i. c. 2. 



( ^1 ) 



Rome gives of them, you muft affemble many cir- 
cumftances, and place each in its proper light, fo that 
all together they may diffufe a great brightnefs upon 
the text, and clearly fhew its truefenfe. * 

XXIV. 

Remark Degrees. * 

For example, Gal. i. If we, or an angel from hea- 
ven^ preach any other go/pel unto you y than that 9 

* Character of evidence. Thus Maffillon on John viii. 46 a 

*■ If I fay the truth why do ye not believe me ?" the world 

oppofes two pretexts againft the evidence of the moft terrib e 
truths of God's word, u In order to calm themfelves, amidil 
a thoufand abufes authorized in the world, they tell us, they 
think their ftate very fafe, their confcience does not reproach 
them, and if they were perfuaded there was any danger, they 
would change their condition directly. 2. They fay, the fcrip- 
ture is not fo clear and precife upon certain points as we pre- 
tend, and what appears fo clear to us does not appear fo to every 
body. The firft pretext is the good faith and tranquillity of 
their confcience — the fecond the obfcurity and uncertainty of 
fcripture rules. To thefe I oppofe a double character of evi- 
dence, which belongs to the law, which will confound thefe two 
pretexts, and condemn all the vain excufes of finners in the day 
of the Lord's vengeance. For, 1. It is evident in the confcience 
of the (inner. 2. It is evident in the fimplicity of its rules. 
The evidence of God s law in your confciences will judge your 
pretended good faith and fecurity: and the fimplicity of its 
rules will judge your affected doubts, and pretended uncertain- 
ties. MalT. fer. Careme 4. S. premiere. 

* Remark degrees. Degree is the comparative condition of 
any thing, and the ftudy of this topic is necefTary to the obtain- 
ing of accuracy in theology. An accurate fermon is a difcourfe 
made up of an exact:: quantity of each component part. There 
is a certain degree, 01 quantum of truth — there is an exact point 
of light, or de gree of evidence, m which this truth is placed — 
there is a nice quantum fufficit of imagery, colouring and enli- 
vening the evidence— there are nice degrees of temper adjufted 
to all parts; the reafoning is vigorous, the narration cool, the 
fuafion pathetic, Mi and warm, and fo on— there is a fort of 



( 448 ) 



which we have preached unto you^ let him he accur* 
fed. After you have remarked the extreme force 
and fignificancy of the words, obferve that the apof- 
tle denounced an anathema twice , even denouncing 
it againft himfelf, mould he ever be guilty of what he 
condemns, denouncing it even againft an angel from 
heaven in the fame cafe. 

You rauft obferve, the apoftle does not always 
ufe the fame vehemence when he fpeaks againft er- 
ror, * In the fourteenth of the epiftle to the Ro- 

ftyle adapted to the fubjecl: — and there is a degree of vehemence 
or indifference in the very words or letters, that exprefs the 
whole, fuited to the importance or the comparative infignifi- 
cance of each part. The compofition of fuch a fermon is a work 
of great labour, and yet it muft not appear to be laboured at all. 
The art of compofmg fuch a difcourfe is merely human, and, it 
fliould feem is banifhed by St Paul from the chriftian pulpit, and 
confined to fchools and places of human fcience. i Cor. ii. 
Natural eloquence cannot be denied an entrance into the pulpit*, 
but artificial eloquence is exprefsly forbidden. There is a great 
deal of reafon for this diftinclion ; for, were fcholaftic eloquence, 
or the purer eloquence of fimple accuracy eflential to a good 
fermon, either the people would have very few fermons, or the 
preacher would have fuch intolerable difficulties in compofing 
his difcourfes, that all the other parts of his office would lie 
neglected ; and, after all, very little benefit would be derived 
from his labours. What numbers in the fpring enjoy the fra- 
grance of univerfal nature, who are incapable of culling the 
tweets, and combining the fprigs, that form the delicate nofe- 
gay of a fine lady ! 

Some attention to degrees, however, is eflential to a minifter 
in ftudying fcripture — in invefti gating and reafoning on fubje<Sls 
— in determining the direction of promifes and threatnings— in 
relieving troubled confciences— and fo on. There are degrees of 
punifhment pointed againft degrees of fin— degrees of glory a- 
dapted to degrees of virtue — degrees of aflurance proportioned 
to degrees of faith, &c. &c. 

* "St Paul does not fpeak againft all errors with equal ve- 
hemence." Our author fuppofes St Paul an example to chriftian 
minifters, and confiders his conduct towards erroneous perfon& 
as a directory of ftanding authority, but this general notion 
ought to be particularly explained, left it fhould feem to autho- 



( 449 ) 



mans lie contents himfelf with calling thbfe weak in 
the faiths who would eat only herbs, and exhorts the 
other believers to bear with them. In the third 
chapter of the firft to the Corinthians he protefts to 

rize the dangerous maxim of fuppreffing error by corporal pu« 
nilhments. 

1. It is allowed, the apoftles infli&ed corporal punifhments, 
as in the cafes of Elymas, Ananias and Sapphira : but thefe were 
extraordinary cafes, and were wrought by miraculous power. 

2. There were no exertions Of this power in cafes of error of 
judgment ; nor any in cafes of thofe wrong practices, which di4 
not deltroy the effence of chriftian worfliip; but on the con* 
trary a kind and gentle mutual toleration prevailed. See Rom. 
xiv. — 1 Cor. xi.- — i Cor. x. 29 — 33. 

3. It is certain, this paffage, Gal. i. 9. cannot authorize the 
fupprefiing of error by corporal punifhments. For, 1. Neither 
had St Paul, nor the Galatian church any magiftratical authority. 
Nor, 2. Could the fuppofed cafe of anathematizing an angel in- 
clude the idea of corporal punilhment. " If we, or an angel from 
heaven preach any other gofpel unto you than that ye have re- 
ceived, let him be accurfed :" that is to fay 3 confider us as per- 
fons excommunicated. 

Excommunication in the primitive church was the power of 
excluding per fons from their community. This power was 
pollened by each chrillian affembly. The people voted, and th© 
pallor declared the exclusion. None were excluded but enor- 
mous offenders) who Could not be brought to repentance. Even, 
they were re-admitted on a future reformation. No corporal pu- 
nilhment, no fine, no exile> no civil incapacity followed. Thus 
flood the matter, in the firft three centuries, the bell and pureft 
ages of ehrillianity. See Mofheim. Cent. i. part ii. c. 3- 

From the time of Conltantine the great, excommunication, 
became truly infernal •, for the barbarous nations, which were 
converted to ehrillianity, confidered chriftian miniftersas a kind 
of druids, and the Roman pontiff as the arch druid, hence 
they confounded the excommunication in ufe among chriftians 
with that, which had been pmctifed in the times of paganifmby 
the prieftsof the gods, and confidered them as of the fame na- 
ture and effe£t. Dr Machine, from whom I quote this, gives 
us a remarkable paffage from Csefar (De bel. Gal vi. 13.) in 
proof of druidical tyranny, and rightly obferves, that the Ro- 
man pontiffs were two artful not to countenance the error of in 
troducing it into chr ftianity. Mofheim. Cent. viii. part ii. c 2, 
6. p. 

3L 



( 450 ) 



fhofe, who build with wood, hay, and ftubble upon 
Chrift the foundation, that their work fhould be 
burnt, but that they fhould be faved, though it fhould 
be by fire. In the feventeenth of Acts we are told, 
his fpirit was fir red, when he faw the idolatry and 
fuperftition of the Athenians. Elfewhere, he fays, 
if any man defile the temple of God, him fall God 
defray. In all thefe there is a force : but no- 
thing like what appears in thefe reiterated words, 
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other 
gofpel to you y than that, which we have preached unto 
you, let him be accurfed. /Is we faid before, fo fay 
I now again, If any man preach any other gofpel un- 
to you, than that which we have preached, let him be 
accurfed. Why fo ? becaufe the apoftie fpeaks here 
of an effential corruption of the gofpel, * which the 
falfe apoftles aimed at in the churches of Galatia ; 

* " St Paul fpeaks of an effential corruption of the gofpel." 
The gofpel is in general that fyftem of religion, which Jefus 
Chrift taught. This religion adapts itfelf to the relief of the 
three principal caufes of human mifery, error, guilt and vice. 
Agreeably to this view, Jefus Chrift executes three offices, he, as 
a prophet gives us a revealed body of inftruclion, and fo re- 
moves error ; as a prieft he atones for our fins-, and intercedes 
for our falvation, and fo takes away guilt and future punifhment; 
and as a king he gives us ftatutes of divine worffiip, which regu- 
late conduct towards God, and moral laws, which regulate per- 
fonal and focial action, he will reward virtue, puniffi vice, and 
thus deftroy fin and eftablifh holinefs. A man, who denies the 
fufficiency of the holy fcriptures, does efTentially corrupt the 
gofpel : he, who allows it, and yet miftakes the meaning of them, 
does not; he is conftitutiunally right; but accidentally wrong. 
The fame may be faid of the other branches of the go{pe\. 

The circumftantials of religion may be corrupted, and the 
fundamentals may not. The fundamentals may be corrupted 
In part, or in the whole. The conduct of chriftians muff be re- 
gulated by an exacT ftate of the cafe, which, by the way, is 
fometimes extremely difficult to come at. What a lefTon of mo- 
deration may we learn here ! An example from Saurin will pre- 
fently explain our meaning. 



{ 451 ) 



they were annihilating the grace of Chrift by aflb- 
dating it with the Mofaic ceconomy; they aimed at 
the entire ruin of the church by debafing the purity 
of the gofpel. In this cafe the confcience of this 
good man could contain no longer, he ftretched his 
zeal and vehemence as far as poffible, he became inex- 
orable and pronounced anathemas; nothing prevented 
him, neither the authority of the greater!: men, no 
nor yet the dignity of the glorious angels, if we, or an 
angel from heaven^ preach any other gospel, let him 
be accursed. * 

* Other foundation can no man lay, &c. Saurin obferves* 
ft St Paul fpeaks of three forts of preachers. I. Such as lay a- 
nother foundation ; with thefe we have no other concern than 
that to which charity obliges us; but what a fad condition mull 
that man be in, who devotes his life and learning to lay another 
foundation ; who fays, You have heard it faid of old time 
by Jefus Chrift, Search the fcriptures, but I fay unto you, the 
fcriptures are dangerous, &c. &c. ? The fecond fort are thofe, 
who build upon this foundation wood, hay, ftubble, &c. and 
the third _ fort are fuch as build upon this foundation gold, fil- 
ver, precious flones. Thefe two forts are in our churches, and 
I place them in different clafTes. In the firft clafs I oppofe a mi- 
niftry fpent in agitating queftions of mere curiofity, againft that 
which is employed in demonftrating the gofpel. In a fecond 
clafs I oppofe difcourfes of mere fpeculation, which tend only 
to exercife the mind, againft thofe practical difcourfes, which 
fan&ify the heart, which make the child obedient to his father, 
&c. In a third clafs I place the productions of a trifler afcrib- 
ing his own imaginations to the holy ghoft, and giving religion 
I know not what marvellous glare, more fit to dazzle children 
than to fatisfy prudent men, againft the labours of thofe mini- 
Hers, who always walk with the light of the gofpel in their 
hands, and infallible truth for their guides," &c. &c. After 
I adding two daffes more, he fays " but I'll venture no farther, 
and I facrifice to charity all the details, of which the fubjeel: is 
capable. I will not even mention here what fuch are threaten- 
ed with as prefer hay and ftubble before gold, filver, and pre- 
cious (tones; nor what belong* to thofe, who teach fuch doctrines . 
let them weigh the apoftle's words, " mall be faved, yet fo as 
by fixe." _ Let preachers think what account they will give of 
their miniftry; and let hearers alk how they will account for 

3 L 2 



( 4s52 ) 



XXV, 

Observe different Interests. * 

Thus if you are explaining the miracle, which 
}efus Chrift wrought in the Synagogue on a Sabbath 
day, when he healed the withered hand in the prer. 
fence of the Herodians and Pharifees: you may re- 
mark the different interests of the fpe&ators in that 
acT: of our Lord Jefus; for on the one hand Moses 
and his religion feemed interefted therein two ways, 
i . This miracle was done in on a day, in which Mo- 
fes had commanded them to do no manner of work, 
And 2. This was done in a synagogue confecrated to 
the Mofaic worfhip, fo that it was in a manner in- 
fulting Mofes in his own houfe. Farther the Hero- 
dians who were particularly attached to the perfon 
of Herod, either for political reafons, or for forne 
others unknown, were obliged to be offended; for 
this miracle had a tendency to prove Chrift's Mef- 
fiahfhip, and thereby (as was commonly thought,) 
his right to the kingdom of Ifrael, and confequent - 
ly this mull blacken the memory of Herod, who 
endeavoured to kill him in his infancy. The Pha- 
risees were no lefs interefted, for they confidered 
Chrift as their reprover and enemy, and could not 
help being very much troubled, whenever they faw 

their time, and their fuperftitious docility, Saur. fer. torn. x. 
fer. quatrieme. 

* Different interefts. Phis beautiful topick of illuftration, 
may ferve for a clue to many paffages of fcripture, to almoft 
all hiftory profane and facred, and to numberlefs affairs, which 
are daily tranfa&ed before our eyes It fuppofes, as all thefe 
aiiodes of illuftration do, a true fact. Different men have' 
divers interefts, an4 divers interefts operate different fenti- 
snents, 



( 453 ) 



Jefus Chrift work a miracle. Obferve the intereft 
of our Lord Jesus Christy his concern was to do 
good, wherever he had an opportunity, and to glo- 
rify God his father, by confirming the word of his 
gofpel by ads of infinite power. The poor afflicted 
man had a double intereft in it, the healing of his bo-* 
dy, and the improvement of his mind. 

Thus this acYion of Jefus Chrift, having divers re- 
lations, becomes as it were a point, whence many 
lines may be drawn, one on this fide, another on that, 
and hence arife the different remarks, which may be 
made upon it, * 

# Different interefts. Maflillon in a fermon on Chriftmafs~ 
day compofes by this topic. " God and man are interefted in 
Chrift's birth, i. God's glory was concerned. For idolatry 
had transferred that worfhip to others, which was only due to 
him. Formality prevailed among the Jews, and they rendered 
him a fervice not worthy of him. Philofophy had conveyed a- 
way the glory of his providence and eternal wifdom. Three da- 
ring mfults, which mankind offered to God, and which Chrift 
came to remove. 

2. The peace of mankind was interefted in Chrift's birth, 

for they had robbed one another of that by pride* — — 

by voluptuoufnefs by revenge. Chrift's grace heals the firfl 

his docl:rinej:he fecond his example the laft." Pour 

Noel. Avent 

So again, " Mat ii. 2. We have feen his ftar and are come 
to worfhip him. The ftar, like the gofpel, directing to Chrift, 

meets with wo r (nippers in the wife men in the priefts, dif- 

femblers in Herod, a perfecutor— — So it is with the gofpel 

now, a few receive it many difguife it— more ftill defpife 

and perfecute it. Thus, we are to treat, 1. Of the truth admit- 
ted 2. The truth difguifed. 3. The truth perfecuted, either 
by the practice of libertines whofe conduct, runs it down : or 
by people of pleafure who exaggerate their own happinefs, and 
the difficulties of chriftianity; or by fools who mock and deride 
it." Man". Avent. pour le jour de l'Epiphanic 



( 454- ) 



XXVI. 

Distinguish, Define. Divide. 

To fpeak properly, we diftinguim when we con- 
fider a thing in different views. * As, for example, 
Faith is confiderable either objectively, or fubje&ive- 
ly. In the view of its objeEl faith is the work of 
Jefus Chrift, his word and crofs produce it; for take 
away the death of Jefus Chrift and there is no more 
faith. His refurre&ion alfo is the caufe of it, If Je- 
sus Christ is not risen, our faith is vain, we are yet 
in our sins. But if you confider faith in regard to 
its subject^ or, to fpeak more properly, in regard to 
its efficient caufe producing it in the fubjed, it is 
the work of the Holy Ghoft, So again (to ufe the 
fame example) faith may be confidered with a view 
to juftification, or with a view to fan&ification. In 
the firft view it is oppofed to works ; in the fecond 
it is the principle and caufe of good works, it con- 
tains them in fummary and abridgement, 'f 

Thus man may be confidered with a view to civil 

* Diftinguim. To diftinguim is to confider things in diffe- 
rent views. 

Nothing can be of greater confequence in theological debates 
than juft and neceflary diilin&ion. Confufion of ideas produces 
confufion of fubjecls, and this confufion of arguments. It would 
be eafy to produce a volume of examples, in which it would evi- 
dently appear, the difputants had not difentangled the point in 
debate, and had therefore affirmed one thing and proved another, 
and fo demon ft rated nothing at all but their own carleflhefs. 

f Faith includesgood works,. Gregory fpeaking of the converted 
thief fays, " His hands and his feet are bound, his whole body is 
upon the rack, he has nothing free but his heart and tongue: with 
his heart he believea unto righteoufnefs, and with his mouth he 
makes confelTion unto falvation. 



( 455 ) 



{ociety, fo he is obliged to fuch and fuch duties, and 
partakes of fuch and fuch advantages, or he may be 
confidered with regard to church-fellowjhip y and fo 
he is fubjecT: to other laws and enjoys other privile- 
ges. This cuftom of diftinguilhing into different 
views is very common in preaching. * 

Definition. 

This is fometimes ufed when an a£t of God is fpo- 
ken of, as the pardon of our fins — the juftification of 
our perfons, &c. — or when a virtue or a vice is ia 
queftion, for then it may not be improper to define, f 

* Diflingui/h. Thus Saurin on Luke xxiii. 34. " Father 
forgive them for they know not what they do." Some fay, this 
expremon is not ftri&ly true, but it is an overflow of affection 
in Jefus Chrift, like the defire of Mofes to be blotted out of the book 
of life-, and the wi/b of S. Paul to be accurfed. We dare not 
adopt this fyftem in regard to the Lord Jefus. We actually be- 
lieve, the ignorance of thefe murderers of Chrift diminiftied their 
crime; for, we muft diftinguifb three forts of ignorance. There 
is 1. An invincible ignorance, in which the will has no part. It 
is an infult upon divine juft ice to fuppofe, itwillpunifti men be- 
caufe they were ignorant of things, which they were phyfically 
incapable of knowing. 2. There is a wilful and obftinate igno- 
rance ; fuch an ignorance, far from exculpating, aggravates a 
man's crimes. There is 3. A fort of ignorance which is neither 
entirely wilful, nor entirely invincible, as when a man has the 
means of knowledge and does not ufe them. The ignorance of 
thefe murderers of Chrift was of the laft kind." " Saur. torn. i. 
priere de J. C. pour fes bourreaux. 

So again on Judas's defpair. " Defpair muft be diftinguifhed. 
I. From a malady. 2. From a rigorous but paternal ckaftifement 9 
wherewith the Lord, fometimes, by fufpending the effects of his 
love tries thegreateft faints. 3. From the exercife of penitence* 
A man very much {hocked at the bafenefs of his paft finful con- 
du&, and trembling for the confequences does not defpair, this 
is not defpair, this is a virtue." Sur le defefpcir de Judas, torn. L 
f Definition. Nothing feems eafier at firft fight than defini- 
tion, yet nothing requires greater fkill. (< The rules of a good 
definition (fays D[r. Watts) are t . It muft be univerfal, or ade- 
quate. 2. Proper and peculiar to the thing defined, and agree; 



( 456 ) 



Division. 

This either regards different fpecies of the genus, 
or different parts of a whole, and it may fometimes 
be ufed profitably. Thus, in fpeaking of God's pro- 
vidence in general* you may confider the extent of 
that providence, to which arefubjed i. Natural cau- 
fes. 2. Contingent. 3. Independent, 4. Good 
and bad, 5. Great and final!. 

XXVII. 

Compare the different Parts of the Text 

TOGETHER. 



This is a very ufeful topic, and it will often fur- 
nifh very beautiful confiderations, if we know how 
to make a proper ufe of it. For example, In this 
text of S. Paul to the Romans, there is therefore now 
no condemnation to them which are in Chrifi Jefus, 
who walk not after the fefi, but after thefpiriL You 
may make a very edifying comparifon between this 
laft part, who walk not after the flefj, but after the 
fpirit, with the firft part, there is no condemnation ; 
and you may remark, that in the one, the apoftle ex- 
preffes what God does in favour of the faithful, and 
in the other what the faithful do for the glory of God. 
God abfolves them ; and they live holily, and devote 
themfelves to good works. God impofes hoiinefs 
upon us in juftification, and juftification is the parent 
of hoiinefs, take away juftification, and there cannot 

to tj»t alone. 3. Clear and plain. 4. Short, and have no fu- 
perauous words, or tautology. 5. Neither the thing defined, 
nor a mere fynonimous name mould make any part oi the defi- 
nition." Logic, i. 6, |, 



( 457 ) 



poflibly be any good works, take away good works 
and there is no more juftification. * 

* God impofes holinefs upon us in juftification. Mr. Claude's 
word's are, la faintete eft la condition. The word condition with 
us, conveys an idea of power to perform, and merit in perform- 
ing : but, it is certain, Mr. Claude meant no fuch thing, for he 
afcribes all our falvation to the grace of God. As the word con- 
dition is of very vague and uncertain meaning in the French tongue, 
fometimes put for place, employment, office, nature, circum- 
ftances, &c. un homme de condition, is a man of quality — J' accept e 
la condition, I embrace your offer, &c. &c. — as the word is fo e- 
quivocal, I have given it what I think was Mr Claude's meaning. 
Moft parties among chriftians have (if I may be allowed to fpeak 
fo.) their church-itjLm, an afibciation of terms forming a peculiar 
phrafeology to themfelves : but as a literal tranflation of a claf~ 
fical author would make bald Englifli, and bad feilfe, and we 
mould quarrel with the writer for afferting what he never be- 
lieved, fo in religious controverfies, we ought to take people's 
words in their own fenfe, not ours, otherwife we may jangle a- 
bout the letters of the alphabet till we are called to judgment, 
Indeed, it is not to be wondered at, that pioteltants have fuch a 
hatred to the word merit, and many of them to the word condi* 
tion, which, they think, is a flip of the fame tree, when it is con- 
fidered to what a length of blafphemy the ignorance of fome in 
the Romifh community have carried it. Their works deferve 
heaven for themfelves, and for their neighbours. If we will be- 
lieve them, the very devil is afraid of a faint's afhes a thoufand 
years after his death, and the virgin Mary has done more for 
God than God has done for her, and for all mankind. " (Ber- 
nardin. fenenf. ferm. 61. et Bern, de buft. Mar. apud Ufher de 
invocat. fancl:.)" and hence we are advifed by Anfelm rather to 
truft Mary than Chrift. ( de excel lentia beatse virg. cap. 6. J This is 
horrid ! but, after all, do we really think, all the members of that 
church affix the fame meaning to the word merit that we do ! 
when they fing, O happy Sin, which deferved to have fuch and fo 
great a Redeemer ; do they indeed think, Adam's fin deferved 
to be rewarded with the redemption of himfelf and all mankind ? 
* do they not rather mean what Dr Young meant when he faid, 

Bold thought ! (hall I dare fpeak it ? or reprefs ! 

Should man more execrate, or boa/1, the guilt 

Which rous'd fuch vengeance t which fuch love inflam'd ? 

Night Thoughts, N. 4. 2093' 

See more to this purpofe in archbifhop Uffier's works, chap, 
xii. of merits, where the good biffiop proves, that neither the an- 

3 M 



( 4-58 ) 



Yoti may alfo compare this laft part with the con- 
dition in which the believer is here confidered ; he is 
in Chrift Jefus, and remark that thefe two things 
perfectly agree together, becaufe Jefus Chrift is the 
true caufe of our j unification, and fan&ification is 
the principal effedt of our communion with Jefus 
Chrift* 

So again, in this beautiful paffage in the fecond of 
Ephefians. God who is rich in mercy, for bis great 
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were 
dead in fins, hath quickened us together with Chrif, 
by grace are ye faved. You may ^ppofe and com- 
pare thefe two fubjedts in the text^dead in fin, and 
rich in mercy, as being two extremes, extreme mifery, 
and extreme mercy, one in us, and the other in God, 
f The greatnefs of our crimes manifeft the riches 

cient fathers, nor the ancient members of the Romifh church 
held what we call the do£trine of merit, though they ufed the 
word. Who does not know that words in this age mean what 
they did not in the la it ? 

* Juftification. Many of our divines have well obferved. that 
on a clear diftin&ion between justification and fanctification de- 
pends an accurate knowledge of the whole plan of redemption 
When thefe two doctrines are confounded, the reft of the fyftem 
cannot be clear. The firft is an a£t of God without us : the laft 
is an operation of his bleffed fpirit in us. Thefe two muft be dif* 
tinguilhed : but they may not be divided. When they are un- 
diftinguifhed, law and gofpel, works and grace, the merit of 
Chrift and the efforts of chriftians run together into one mafs of 
obfcurity and confufion. When they are divided they produce 
myfticifm or libertinifm, or both. 

f You may compare the two parts vf the text. This method of 
elucidation is applicable to arguments in a difcourfe, as well as to 
claufes in a text. Thus, for example, S. Paul affirms, Jefus 
Chrift hath abdli/hed death. One of our divines obferves, '* the Jew, 
Aben Amram, and the Mohammedan, Achmet Ben Abdallah, 
object, it ismoft impertinent, abfurd and falfe to affirm that Je- 
fus hath abolifhed death in any fenfe at all ; for this makes the 
juftice of God go on to exact, a debt, when full payment is pre- 
tended to have been made. In anfwer to this reafoning, I {hall 
fhew two things, i. That the principles, on which it ftands, 



{ 459 ) 



of God's mercy, and the riches of his mercy abforb 
the greatnefs of our crimes. Had our fins been lefs, 
it mint indeed have been mercy, to pardon our fins, 
but not riches of mercy. If God had been only 

?tre fueh as the Jew cannot abide by : but all the abfurd opinions 
charged upon our religion, in this matter, bear full as hard upon s 
and are equally acknowledged in his own 2. That the continu- 
ance of labour, and forrow, and bodily death, not with (landing 
the apoftle's affertion here, that Jefus Chrjfl hath abolijloed death, 
is moft ftriclly rational and true. ' u Dr. Stanuope's fixth ferm. 
at Boyle's leaure." 

So again, in regard to chriftian interpretation of prophecies. 
<c If we bring no texts concerning the Meffiah, which the Jews 
did not allow to concern him — nor urge them in any fenfe 
which they did not admit — then I am fure the Jews cannot pro- 
fit themfelves of, nor can we fairly be accountable for fuch pre- 
tended incoherencies. It lies upon the fynagogue to vindicate 
itfelf, &c." The fame, fer. 8. 

John xvi. 13. " When the fpirit of truth is come, he wilt' 
guide you into all truth." What! will the holy fpirit anfwer all 
the queftions, that we may think proper to alk? Will he inform 
us of the mode of the divine exiftence, fuppofe? Com* 
pare the foregoing words with the following. «' He fhall 
not fpeak concerning himfelf. ,, He mall not acquaint you with 
the mode of his own exiftence, and fo on. ** Whatsoever he 
fhall hear that mail he fpeak, he fhall fix your, attention on the 
truths of revelation, he mall afFecl: your hearts with my doc* 
trines, &c 

Thus a period may be compared. God will have all men 
to be faved — Chrift gave himfelf a ranfom for all — make pray- 
ers for all men. This paffage ought not to be urged in the 
arminian controverfy; for a part of this period fixes the fenfe to 
ranks, or degrees of men. Pray for kings, and for all that are 
in authority. The meaning, then, is, pray for all ranks and de- 
grees of men, for God will fave fame of all orders* — —Chrift 
gave himfelf a ranfom f of peri'ons of all degrees. 1 Tim. ii. 
1—6. 

A&s xvi. St Paul baptized Lydia and her houfehold, 15. — 
St Paul entered into the houfe of Lydia, and when they hag 
feen the brethren, they comfotted them and departed, 49 —St. 
Paul baptized the jailor, and all his, 33. — The jailor rejoiced, 
believing in God with all his houfe, 34 Theie paffages ought 
not to be brought in proof of infant -bapttfm: for a companion of 
one part of the hiftory with the other proves that infants were 
Incapable of what is affirmed of the houfeholds, or families. 

n3M.2 



( 460 ) 



lightly inclined to mercy he might indeed have par- 
doned fmaller fins, hut this would never have ex- 
tended to perfons dead, in their fins; this belongs 
only to extraordinary and abounding mercy, * 

In order to render this chapter more complete, it 
may not be improper to add an example of the 
difcuffion of a text by way of obfervations. •f Let 

* Here our author's topics end; and, it is to be remembered, 
they are fubjecl: to both ufe and abufe. Whoever choofes may 
confult Ouintiliani inftitutiones orat lib. v. c. 10. Cicero de ora- 
tore lib. ii. etin topicis. Ariftotelis Rhetor, lib- ii. c. 23, 24, 
&c. 

I beg leave to fubjoin one topic more, if I may call it fo— - 
I mean a holy life, without which the mod dexterous ap^ 
plication of all the above rules is of no avail. Can it be better 
exprefied than in a character of a great divine, drawn by a poet 
of our own? 

His preaching much, but more his practice wrought, 
(A living fermon of the truths he taught) 

For this by rules fevere his life he fquar'd, 
That all might fee the doctrines which they heard: 
For priefts, he faid, are patterns for the reft, 
The gold of heav'n, who bear the God imprefPd 
But when the precious coin is kept unclean, 
The fov'reign's image is no longer feen: 
If they be foul, on whom the people truft, 
W ell may the bafer brafs contract a ruft. 

JDryden, 

f Example of difcuflion by way of obfervation. Our author 
derives his obfervations in the following eflay from various to* 
|>ics before-mentioned: but there is one character in which 
they all agree ; they all aim to change the heart by informing 
the mind. This is what our eld divines call the belt preaching, 
favoury, truth, wholefcme matter, fpiritual dectrine, found, 
powerful, fearching preaching ; and great encomiums they 
july bellow on minivers, who prefer this" before the more gau- 
dy ; but lefs ufeful materials of glaring fhowy fermons, which 
aim only to tickle the ear. One may fpeak for all. 

" A powerful fearching minifiry, that bringeth men to a 
fight and fenfe of their fins, is belt to fit men for converfion to 
Cod. There is a playing with fcripture in oratorian flourifhes, 
and a found inculcation of it. It is faid, Pericles left a fting 



( m ) 



us take this, I Thef. iv. 7. God hath not called us 
to uncleannefs; but unto holinefs. He therefore that 
defpifeth, defpifeth not man hut God, who hath alfo 
given unto us his holy fpirit. Let this be divided 
into two parts; the firft, St Paul's doctrine touching 
fau&ifi cation, God (faith he) hath not called us to 
uncleannefs, but unto holinefs ; and the fecond, the 
inviolable divinity of this doctrine ; he therefore 
that defpifeth, defpifeth not man but God, who hath 
alfo given unto us his holy fpirit. 

As to the firft, the fenle of the apoftle's words 
is clear; for he means to affirm, when God calls us 
to the communion of Jefus Chrift, and to the hope 
of his falvation, he does not leave us at liberty to 
fin, and to follow our own lufts ! but he impofes 
on us a neceffity and obligation to good works, and 
a holy life. Obferve 1. It is not only here, that St 
Paul declares himfelf upon this fubject: it is a doc- 
trine diffufed through all his epiflles. In that, which 
he addreffes to the Romans, he employs whole 
chapters to eftablifh holinefs and perfuade to the 

in the minds of his hearers. That is the beft preaching, which 
woundeth the heart; it is moft for the glory of God, and for the 
good of fouls. Speaking pleafing things to tickle the ear better 
becometh the ftage than the pulpit. It is faid " The words of 
the wife are as goads, and nails fattened by the matter of af- 
femblies," Ecclef. xii. 1 1. Words that have a notable acumen 
in them-, fome fpiritual fharpnefs to affect, the heart, and quicken 

our dull affections He is not a wife preacher, who doth not 

mind his end, whofe fpeech is fuller of flames of wit than of 
favoury wholefome truths, who rather thinketh to pleaie the 
ear than to awaken the confcience; he doth not act like the ma- 
tter of aflemblies. They are the beft preachers, and moft af- 
fectionate to you, who wound your fouls. The work of a mi- 
nifter is not to gain applaufe to himfelf; but fouls to God. He 
is the beft preacher, who maketh you go away, and fay, not, 
how well he hath preached! but how ill have I lived!''' Dr ? 
Mantou's I Serm. on Ac>s ii. 37, 38. 



( 462 ) 



pra&ice of good works; either by conclufrve reafon* 
ing, or by clear explications, or by exhortations and 
precepts. He does the fame every where elfe, and 
to this he refers all the benefits of religion, and all 
our advantages of knowing God and his myfteries. 
Herein he follows that general fpirit, which anima- 
ted the Evangelifts, and firft founders of Chriftianity. 
Whichever way you turn your eyes, you will find 
in thefe divine men only an ardent defire, and a per- 
petual defign of abolifhing the empire of fin, and of 
making piety and holinefs reign in its place. Read 
the Evangelifts, the Acl:s of the Apoftles, the E« 
piffles, in a word all the books of the New-Tefta- 
ment, and you will find this the ftiining character of 
them all. 

Thefe glorious authors have in this, as in every 
thing elfe, followed the fteps of Jefus Chrift their 
lovereign Lord, who in all his converfation upon 
earth propofed nothing elfe but to infpire thofe whom 
he honoured with his prefence, with a hatred of fin, 
and a love of holinefs. This appears in all his ac- 
tions, and in all his fermons, particularly in that ad- 
mirable one, w hich he preached on the mount, re- 
lated by St Matthew in the fifth, fixth and feventh 
chapters of his gofpel ; there you will find thefe ad- 
mirable words, which regard all the faithful, ye are 
the fait of the earth but if the fait have lofl his fa- 
vour wherewith fhall it le falted? It is thenceforth 
good for nothings but to be cafl out, and trodden 
under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A 
city that is fet on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do 
men light a candle and put it under a bujhel: but on 
a candle/lick, and it giveth light unto all that are in 
the boufe. Let your light fo fhine before men that they 
may fee your good works and glorify your father 



{ 463 ) 

which is in heaven. There you will meet with thofe 
admirable and important words, fo worthy of being 
eternally engraven upon your hearts, Except your' 
righteoufnefs [hall exceed the righteoufnefs of the 
fcribes and pharifees, ye Jhj.ll in no cafe enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. * 

It is evident, that, of all the religions which have 
hitherto been propagated in the world, no one was 
ever comparable to the Chriftian upon the fubject of 
piety and holinefs. I grant, all have profefled to direct 
men to this : but they have been fo far from excelling 
in it, that fomehave confounded all our ideas of vice, 
by making that pafs for virtue, or at leaft for an in- 
different thing, which really was an enormous crime. 
Others have been defective in enumerating human 
virtues. Some were content to regulate external ac«° 

* u Except your righteoufnefs exceed that of the pharifees." 
Mat. v- 20. Mr Claude's application of this paiTage to our obe- 
dience, not to Chrift's in our ftead, is perfectly agreeable to the 
whole fcone of thefe chapters, in which no mention is made of 
imputed righteoufnefs, nor does this text feem to belong to that 
article of our faith. 

Thofe commentators, who include the righteoufnefs of Chrift, 
by which we are juftified, do not exclude inherent holinefs, 
which is our fan<itification. Thus one, " inherent righteouf- 
nefs, or the fan&ification of the fpirit, is preferable to any righ- 
teoufnefs of a natural man j it exceeds it in its author— nature 
— effe£b— and ufefulnefs.'' Dr Gill on the Place. 

Another fays, " We muft do more than the pharifees, and 
better than they, or we (hall come fhort of heaven. They were 
partial in the law, and laid moll ftrefs on the ritual part of it : 
but we muft be univerfal, and not think it enough to give the 
pried his tithe : but muft give God our hearts. They minded 
only the outfide : but we muft make confcience of infide godli- 
nefs. They aimed at the praife of men ; but we muft aim at 
acceptance with God. They were proud of what they did in 
religion : but we, when we have done all, muft deny ourfelves, 
and fay, " we are unprofitable fervants, and truft only to the 
righteoufnefs of Chrift and thus we may go beyond Scribes 
and Eharifees," Henry on the Place. 



( 464 ) 



tlons without troubling themfelves about the heart, 
All together were deficient in their motives to good 
works, giving only cold and powerlefs rules, without 
any arguments taken from our true motives to hate 
fin, and love holinefs. * 

In all thefe refpecls chriftianity is admirable. 
There is no vice whatever, which it does not con- 
demn, no virtue, which it does not ordain. It not 
only regulates the exterior, but it goes even fo far as 
to purify the heart, the fource of all our actions. It 
gives us precepts for all the different ftates and condi- 
tions, in which men can be placed. It maintains the 
force of its precepts by the moil amiable examples, 
that can be conceived. It affords us in Jefus Chrift 
himlelf a perfect model, and it accompanies all this 
with an infinite number of powerful motives, and 
prevailing reafons. It is, then, in this general fpirit 
of chriftianity that S. Paul writes thefe excellent 
words, God bath not called us to unckannefs; but unto 
holinefs, * 

* " No religion is comparable to Chriftianity on the fubjecl 
©f holinefs." All our apologifts plead this in proof of the divi- 
nity of chriftianity. By the way, the word apology, ufed by the 
greek and latin fathers, fignifisd in general a difcourfe, a plea, 
a declamation, and they, properly enough, called their arguments 
apologies for chriftianity : but with us apology flgnifies excufe 
for fornething wrong, not vindication of what is right. Apolo- 

fies for chriftianity, therefore, imply too much. To return, 
'he holinefs of the gofpel is one grand argument for the divinity 
of it *, and what one of the fathers affirmed of it in comparifon 
withpaganifm may be fairly applied to the fimplicity of the wor- 
ihip of fonie reformed churches in comparifon with that of 
Rome, and other corrupt communities like it. 

f " Holinefs is the general fpirit of chriftianity. 1 ' Since this 
Is undeniable, fince as all man's mifery confifts in the lofs of 
God's favour, and image ; and one great end of redemption is 
to reftore us to the former, and re-imprefs us with the latter ; 
and fmce this is the end of all ordinances, for who is Paul •? or 
what is Appollos but inftruments of this ? how ftrange is it 



( 465 ) 

2. But, befide all this, I cannot help remarking, St 
Paul does not content himfelf with propofmg, in ge- 
neral, that the end of the Chriftian religion is to 
fandKfy men ; but he makes a particular application 
of it to his Theffalonians, to whom he addreffes his 
epiftle, God (fays he) hath not called us to unclean- 
nefs but to hoiinefs. As he ardently loved that peo- 
ple, he did not content himfelf with general inftruo 
tions concerning maxims of Chriftianity, he would 
have them make a holy application of thefe to them- 
felves, and put them in practice ; for without this the 
truths of religion may be ufelefs, or, to fpeak more 
properly, they are rather hurtful than profitable ; the 
Lord fays, he that knows his majler s will and does 
it not, fi all be beaten with many Jlripes. °f 

that other things mould be made the fubftance of the 
gofpel, and this, this for the fake of which the whole ftands 
as a building for its inhabitant, this grand article of fan£U- 
fication mould be coldly treated, or entirely neglected ? it is 
coldly treated when minifters after they have fpent an hour 
in clearing and proving a controverted point, juft for two mi- 
nutes lightly add, it is needlefs to dwell upon the fruits of this 
faith, for if the people be partakers of this grace, it will " teach 
them to deny ungodlinefs, and to live foberly." Did Jefus Ghrift 
and his apoftles do fo ? Did the primitive Chriftians do fo ? Did 
they treat hoiinefs infucha trite, jejune manner ? Certainly not* 
It is fometimes intirely neglected, by placing it in what it does 
not conlift. Hoiinefs is neither zeal for forms nor againft them 5 
but it is a conformity to the bleffed God. How much pieffed 
in primitive days let any one judge. 

f " Without practice the truths of religion may be ufelefs 
-or hurtful." There is not one iingie doctrine in all the 
chriftian fyftem, which doth not reduce itfelf to practice ; and 
this is the glory of the fyftem. The doctrine of God requires 
the practice of worihipping him. The unity of God requires 
the practice of fole worfhip of him. The fpirituality oi God 
requires mental fpiritual worfhip. His juftice is an object of 
fear ; his goodnefs a ground of hope ; and fo on. 

The fame may be affirmed of the doclrine of providence. The 
fuperintendence of God requires the afliduity of his fervants * 
The obfcurity of providence requires the patience of good men 

3-N 



( 44§ ) 



The apoftle then would ftir up the ThefTalonians 
to holinefs, and in order to do fo more effectually he 

The equity of the governor requires the confidence of the go- 
verned-, and fo on. 

The knowledge of thefe, and other truths of religion, we of- 
ten fay with Mr Claude, may be ufelefs and pernicious, when 
unaccompanied with practice •, but ftrictly fpeaking, libertines, 
who pretend to this knowledge, pretend to more than they pof-^ 
fefs for they have viewed the truths of religion only on one 
fide ; they have not feen them in their connection, order, and 
dependence; their knowledge,therefore, is partial and incompe- 
tent, and to them maybe applied the words of the prophet, " It 
is a people of no understanding, therefore he that made them 
will not have mercy on thenij and he that formed them will (hew 
them no favour. 5 ' Ifai. xxvii. n. 

It is curious to fee the various fhapes into which divines have 
caft the doctrine of fpeculation. Pafchal has proved, that Lef- 
fius, Filiutius, Efcobar, and other lefuits, in their fyftems of 
moral divinity, allow murder, and many other crimes to be law- 
ful in fpeculation, and only not fafe in practice, on account of 
political confequences. In plain Englifh, If a man flap your 
face, you ought to punifh the affront by killing him, if you can 
avoid hanging for doing fo. Provincial Letters, U xiii. See the 
fubject at large in Hojpinian. HiJ}. Jefuitica. 

The calvinift divines confider a contemplation of finning as a 
kind of mental immorality, and name it fpeculative wickednefs. 
Of this kind, they fay, are impure dreams, and all contempla- 
tive enjoying pleafures, and acting over fins in the mind. See 
Dr Goodwin, vol. iii. b. vi. c, 4. 

Monks and myfticks confider contemplation as the higheft de- 
gree of moral excellence, and with them afilent fpeculator is a 
divine man, while practical chriftians, who are the pillars of fo- 
ciety, are reputed hereticks or the world, as their cant phrafe 
is. 

Among proteflants, fpeculation runs into various fantastical 
.form?-. In fome communities, the belief of fpeculative points, 
not reducible to practice, is a teft of orthodoxy. In others it is 
the evidence of intereft in Chrift. In others, again, an effort of 
.fancy is eiTential to the piety of a religious action. What was 
that cafuift thinking of, who wrote the practice of piety, when he 
faid, <; that all communicants, at the article of their receiving, 
fhould imagine the pofiure of Chrifl upon the crofs '?" To fpe- 
culate is to meditate — to contemplate — to take a view of any 
.thing with the mind. This is an operation of intelligence, and 
God himfelf exercifes it. There is neither virtue nor vice in mere 



( 467 ) 



joins himfelf with them, and acknowledges that him- 
felf, as well as the people at rheffalonica, was under 
the fame obligation. God (faith he) hath not called 

contemplation. A mental approbation of an improper action 
maybe involuntary, then it is an infirmity to be pitied ; and it 
may be voluntary, and laid in the mind as ground of future ac- 
tion in the life, and then, undoubtedly, it is to be abhorred ; it 
refembles an iniquitous law of a corrupt legiflator. 

Speculation with approbation forms an important branch of 
minifterial fcience, particularly in two cafes, I. Mental appro- 
bation of a virtuous action, or a virtuous courfe of action, al- 
though the Speculator have not power to reduce his plan to 
practice, is virtue. It argues a good ftate of mind fan&ified by 
divine grace. To this belong holy refolutions, the grounds of 
holy actions. See Pfal. ci. I will walk in my houfe with a per- 
fect heart, &c. I Kings viii- 18. It was in thine heart to build 
an houfe — Thou malt not build an houfe— but thou didft well, 
that it was in thine heart. See 2 Cor. viii. 12.— Rom. vii. 18. 
&c. The difcuflion of this article is neceffary to the confola- 
tion of many pious fouls, whofe plans are noble, though their 
powers are feeble. Such perfons often diftrefs themfelves on ac- 
count of their weaknefs, and criminate themfelves alfo for the 
evil of their thoughts : but they ought to diftinguifh thofe fin- 
ful thoughts, which they approve, from others, which they ab- 
hor, and fuch weaknefles as are voluntary, from others, which 
are not fo ; for the religion or irreligion of (peculation lies in 
that approbation of virtue or vice, that accompanies it. 

2. Mental approbation of vice, although the (peculator have 
not power to realize his plan s is vice, and argues a depraved 
Hate of heart. The emperor Caligula was a monfter of iniquity 
and hiitorians juftly impute to him the guilt of intentional crimes 
which he never perpetrated. He left at his death a large box 
filled with various poifons, and two lifts of names of perfons 
doomed to die, the one entitled Gladius, the other Pugio. By 
diving into the human heart, and by developing and expofing 
iniquitous plans of action, actually impracticable, chriftian 
preachers detect hypocrites, and difcover the exceeding turpitude 
of fallen men. 1 John hi. 15. Whofoever hateth his brother 
is a murderer. Pfal xiv. I. The fool hath faid in his heart, 
There is no God. John xv. 24. They have hated me, and my 
father. Rom. viii. 7. The carnal mind is enmity againft God. 
One of our divines fays, "Sin is called by fome Deicide, a 
ilaughtering of God ; becaufe every fin, being enmity againft 
God, doth virtually include in its nature the deftruction of God-" 
Charnock's two difcourfes — on enmity againft God, Sueton e 
vit. Calig. c. 49. 

3 N 2 



( 468 ) 

us to uncleannefs but to holinefs. There is not one 
perfon in the church exempt, it is a common duty, a 
rule without exception, and againft which no privi- 
lege can be alledged, it is not faying, I am an apoftle, 
or I am not ; lam a minifter, or I am not ; 1 am 
in an eminent ftation in the church or in the world, 
or I have no diftindion in either ; no body will mind 
me, or take me for an example ; all thefe are vain 
fubterfuges ; the law of holinefs is the law of all, it 
obliges the great and the fmall, the young and the 
old, paftors and flocks, magiftrates and people, both 
fexes, every age, every condition ; all are under this 
law without any diftindion, for God hath not called 
us to uncleannefs, but to- holinefs. 

3. Moreover thefe words muft be underftood in 
good earneft, and without deceit. Some perhaps 
may fay, true, God does not call us to uncleannefs^ 
that is, in calling us, he does not command us to fin: 
but it does not follow, that he has abfolutely forbid- 
den it ; for there are many things, which God does 
not command ; but which alfo he does not forbid ; 
he leaves us at liberty, he permits many oblique 
pradices, and will not condemn us if we do them. 
I underitand, then, fays one, that God indeed has 
not commanded us to be unholy, but he allows us 
to be fo, and will not be offended when we fin/' 
This is a criminal fubterfuge. The true fenfe of 
the apoftie's words, God has not called us to unclean- 
fiefs, is not barely that God has not commanded us 
to fin; for who imagines he has? or who can en- 
tertain an opinion fo contrary to the ideas, which all 
men have of God ? but the apoftle means, God hath 
forbidden it, and his adding but unto holinefs makes 
his meaning plam and indiiputable. * 

* God a/lows wk$t is not firliddcn* Mr Claude julily reprc* 



( 469 ) 



Sin and holinefs are incompatible with God's 
calling, becaufe they are incompatible with corn- 
bates this dangerous axiom ; £b I call it, for it lies at the bottom 
of fome mighty fabricks. We have before obferved, that po- 
fitive law is efientially neceffary to pofitive obedience, vol. u 
2 1 6. vol. ii. 1 30. Hireling priefts laugh at this article, and forge 
lies to keep themfelves in countenance. 64 A certain puatan, 
fays a great learned doctor, fcrupled paying his rent, becaufe 
his landlord could not produce a text of fcripture in proof of 
his right to demand it ; and this is the cant of all the noncon- 
formilts, they will do nothing but what they have fcripture for." 
Why, you rogue of Babylon ! you great mafs of corruption, 
putrifying in prunella ! have you notfworn, that " Athanafius's 
creed may be proved by moft certain warrants of holy feripture;" 
and do you wonder, after this, that we call for chapter and 
verfe for every thing ? A man who can prove that creed by 
fcripture may prove any thing by it But ferioufly, a diftinc- 
tion mould be made between moral and pofitive inftitutes. Mo- 
ral obedience is founded in the nature of things, and particular 
duties are enforced by general commands. Thou malt not Ileal 
forbids all fraud, and enjoins all forts of equity. It is not ne- 
cefTary, therefore, to find a moral command for every branch of 
moral rectitude. But the cafe is widely different in regard to 
pofitive inltitutes. The chriftian mode of divine worinip is a 
courfe of action founded on pofitive commands, and wholly re- 
gulated by them ; and on this ground we reject every thing in 
divine worihip not commanded. For example, we afk 
why chriflians celebrate Eafter, and keep Lent, and falls and 
feitivals ? The incorporating of thefe rites into the religion of 
Jefus originated fomewhere. They are no parts of the moral 
law — they are no where pofitively inllituted by Jefus Chrift — 
they are, therefore, human traditions to us, and they were hu- 
man inltitutes to our anceftors, who appointed them. 

The damage done to religion by the fign of the crofs in bap- 
tifm does not fo much lie in two ftrokes of a prieft's finger, as 
in previoufly admitting the deftrudtive principle on which it is 
grounded. Before I can add any ceremony to a pofitive inftitute, 
I muft neceiTarily affirm my right of religious legiflation. Now 
this principle once admitted, popery follows it is your will, 
that your infant ftiould be chriftened and crorTed. It is my will, 
that every tenth year you (hall plough and fo w the whole parilfi, 
and I will reap it. It is the will of the bifhop, that I mould pay 
him a part of the plunder. It is the will of a king, that the 
bifhop mould pay him a dividend ; and it is the will of a pope, 
that princes fhouid grant him a fhare* It is the will and plea- 



( 470 ) 



rnunion with him, and it is in their nature to deprive 
us of the manifeftations of his love. His eyes are 
too pure to behold iniquity and it is for this reafon that 
he fays, Be ye holy, for I am holy. We are called 
to be conformed to the image of his fon, and his fon 
is righteous, holy, barmlefs, undefined, feparate froyn 
firmer s. We are called to be temples of the holy gbqft^ 
where corruption and fin can have no authority. 

I acknowledge, fins committed after the faithful 
are called do neither cut them off from the mercy of 
God, nor from a right to faivation, nor entirely from 
a hope of obtaining it : they do not feparate them 
from communion with Jems Chrift their redeemer, 
nor make them ceafe to be temples of the holy ghcft; 
if this were the cafe, the condition of believers would 
be very miferable. Yet, it is certain, fin in general 
extremely beclouds ail thefe advantages, and very 
much diminiihes both their former value, and our 
future defires after fuch enjoyments ; and the great- 
er and more frequent our backflidmgs aie, me more 
will our communion with God and Jefus Chrift be 
interrupted and difturbed. Moreover, it is certain, 
the love and tendernels, which God has for the be- 
liever, when in aftate of j unification, expreffeth it- 
felf in a paternal difpleafure, when he falls into fin, 
and hence come thofe chaftifements and ftrokes of 
his rod, with which he vffits them ; and hence aU 
fo thofe difquieting horrors of confidence, with which 
the faithful are lometimes agitated. 

In brief, it is certain, the paternal love, and royal 
mercy of God for a believer fallen into fome enor- 
mous crime, and thofe remains of communion, 

fure of us all to call this the Religion of Jefus Chrijt. S. Paul had 
a quite contrary idea of religion, when he reproved will-wor- 
fnip. Col. ii, 18—23. 



( ) 



which the backflider yet has with Jefus Chrift, only 
fubfift upon aflurance of the repentance and return of 
this rebellious child; fo that it will always remain 
true, nothing is more oppoiite to the divine vocation 
than fin, as there is nothing more oppofke tc the 
life, and natural functions of the body than the ra- 
vages of a burning malignant fever, which of itfelf 
tends to death, and which in the ifTue will certainly 
procure it, unlefs remedies be applied, or nature it- 
felf makes fome extraordinary efforts. * 

4. This confideration leads us to a fourth, which 
condemns the foolifh illufion of the greateft part of 
mankind, who imagine, they can join together un- 

* " Nothing is more oppofite to the divine calling than fin." 
There is no extravagance, into which fome theologifts have not 
run. It has been affirmed, fin does a believer no harm. It lies 
on thofe, who fay fo, to prove their affertion. Sin hurts the 
body — the property — the character — the comfort — the foul of a 
good man, as good men daily find by woful experience. One, 
who is fuppofed to carry his notions of grace farther than mod 
modern divines, has well obferved — " that aflurance of hope is 
founded on experience of the love of God — that no man, by en- 
joying the holy fpirit as a comforter, can find any ground for 
being lefs afraid of finning, or of its confequences, than he was 
before — that, when S. Paul was in diftrels, he heard nothing 
from Jefus Chriit to relieve him but thefe words, my grace is 

fufficient for thee, &c -that, when S, John was terrified in the 

ifle of Patmos, Jefus Chriit encouraged him, by reminding him 
of the fame truth, which encourages the worn: of mankind, when 
they firft underftand it. Fear not, I am the firft. and the laft, Sec." 
This writer, therefore, ought not to be taxed with introducing 
libertinifm. Sandeman's Let. on Theron a?id Afpafio, let. vi. vol. ii. 

Our author's fyftem lies between two dangerous extremes. 
They, who affirm, fin does not hurt a believer, encourage vice : 
and they, who affirm, fins committed after regeneration exclude 
believers from the benefit of redemption, drive the finner to de- 
fpair. Mr Claude's fyftem oppofes a powerful barrier againlt 
fin by threatninga backflider with the lofs of God's comforting 
prefence, the higheft of all pofiible enjoyments ; and he at the 
fame time, by reprefenting God as a merciful father, guards a- 
gainft defperation, and prorides for the finner's return to his 
firft love. See Hof. ii. 7. 



( 4?2 } 



deannefs and holinefs, On the one hand, they fa}% 
they can indulge their paffions and fenfual pleafures, 
if on the other they do fome good works. They 
even pretend, that with the one they compenfate 
for the other, and that their alms, their prayers, their 
fallings, and fuch exercifes are of fo much value be- 
fore God, that on account of them he will take no 
notice of their fins. 

The apoftle ftrikes here at this vain and pernicious 
opinion, when, on the one hand, he fays, without 
reftriction or limitation, God hath not called us to 
uncleannefs, and on the other oppofes fan&ification 
againft uncleannefs, as two things which deftroy 
each other, and which can never be affociated toge- 
ther. The one is the ftate from which effectual cal- 
ling takes us, the other is that to which it conducts 
us ; the one is the kingdom of darknefs whence the 
divine voice calls us, the other is the kingdom of 
marvellous light into which it introduces us. * 

Nor are we to hope for any compenfation on our 
part towards God. A thoufand good works cannot 
expiate the guilt of the leaft fin, and one fingle fm 
would be more likely to deftroy a thoufand good 
works, than a thoufand good works would be to fuf- 
pend the punifhment of one fingle fin. You will 
afk, then, How are the fins, which we commit after 
calling, to be pardoned ? I anfwer, If we could fully 

* " God hath called you out of darknefs into his marvellous 
light." I Pet. ii. 9. The pagan religion was total darknefs, the 
Jewifh partial light, or comparative darknefs : from both the di- 
vine calling brought men into the perfect light of the gofpel, a 
light truly marvellous ! A Roman commentator fuppofes S. Pe- 
ter to take his ideas in this place from Ifai. lx. 2. "Darknefs 
(hall cover the earth : but the Lord {hall rife upon thee, xliii. 21* 
This people have I formed for myfelf, they £hall {hew forth my 
praife. Pfal. xxii. 22. — cii. 18., 



( 473 ) 



difcharge our duty, we fhould commit none at all, 
becaufe every fin is contrary to our vocation, and all 
produce bad effects in us : but as it is impodible for 
us in this life to attain this perfect fancYification, to 
which God calls us, there is only one way of having 
the fins pardoned, into which we fall, and this way 
is not by pretending to compound with God, by 
placing our iins on this fide, and our duties on that ; 
but only by an application by a lively faith to the 
blood of Jefus Chrift, and to the mercy of God the 
father, and at the fame time leaving of the courfe of 
our fins, and by mortifying them in ourfelves by a 
fincere repentance. Sin, which has two lives, one 
in God, and the other in us, one in the remembrance 
and wrath of God, and the other in the love, which 
we have for it, cannot die in God, (If I may be al- 
lowed fo to exprefs myfelf) that is, cannot oe pardon- 
ed by his juftice, till firft it dies in us ; till we re- 
nounce that unjuft approbation, which we have had 
for it, and feel a hatred againil it. * 

* ]l r e can male no compenfathn to God. To compenfate, ftriclly 
fpeaking, ts to make amends for depriving a perloii of one ngnt 
by performing fome other* Tne doctrine or compenfatiun, 
thereiore, is the doctrine of fubititution. Now what can we 
fubtticute of equal value in the place of moral rectitude ? Ex- 
ternal privileges of birth, education, fortune, &e. a zealous pro- 
feifiDn of religion ; a ftrict obfervance of religious rites j juit ipe- 
culative opinions good refolutions ; extreme furteruigs j ail 
thefe, with whatever eife can be imagined of the kind, have their 
vaiue : but they cannot weigh agamit peribnai hohnefs. This 
made Herbert fay. 

All Solomon's fea of brafs and world of ftone 

Is not to be compard with one good groan. Temple. 

In our author's fyftem, man is confidered in two points of 
light. In the fir it he is a criminal before his judge, pardoned, 
and accepted for the fake of a compenfation, which Chnd in 
his one perfon, as the finners fubititute, produced. This is 

3° 



( 47* ) 



5. Moreover,you may remark here upon the term 
called, which feripture fo often ufes, and which our 
apoftle employs in this verfe, that a Chriftian foci- 
ety is not a fortuitous or tumultuous affembly, which 
hazard or human caprice has formed; nor is it a 
mere human affembly, which the Ample light of rea- 
fon, inftincl: of nature, or the authority of magiflrates 
has convened : but it is a divine affembly, gathered 
by the order and authority of the fupreme monarch 
of all mankind. It is an affembly, of which he him- 
felf is the founder and author ; either as it is formed 
according to his eternal counfels, or as he has been 
pleafed to appoint its laws, offices, and rules, or in 
fine as he has laid the inviolable foundations upon 
which it is eftablifhed. It is formed by the power 
of his voice, or his word, and by the infufion of the 
holy fpirit ; for to thefe principles only can the form- 
ing of chriftian affemblies be referred. 

S. Paul admirably expreffes this in his epiftle to 
the Romans, whom he did foreknow (fays he) he alfo 
did predeflinate to be conformed to the image of his 
Jon ; and whom he did predeflinate^ them he also cal- 
led ; and whom he called, them he also jnjlifed; and 
nvhom he jifl'ified, them he also glorified. This is to 

juftification. In the fecond he is a fon., and nothing can be fub- 
jftituted in the place of love^and obedience to his father. In this 
latter fenfe Mr Claude reprobates compenfatipn. 

Some pretend to compound with God. Compofition differs from 
eompenfaiion. The latter puts fomething elfe in the place of 
moral rectitude : but the former gives only a lefs degree of rec- 
titude *, it gives a penny the value of a pound, makes one good 
"work go for two, and acquires by the imperfect obedience of 
five years all that is due to a whole life of unfpotted purity, 
Thefe, we prefume, are two of the ways, in which S. Paul fays, 
are deftruftion and mifery. Rom. iii. 16. Yet thefe are the 
ways of pagan darknefs, for the fake of walking in which we 
leave the paths of uprightnefs. Prov. i. 13. 



( 4< 5 ) 

teach us that this fociety, in its commencement, pro- 
grefs and end is all of God. This truth is not on- 
ly a very jull and beautiful notion : but it is more, 
it is a very weighty, important, and neceffary doc- 
trine. * 

1. It obliges us to acknowledge that all we are, 
and all we have, is of God, w@4iold all of him, and 
owe him an entire devotednefs. 

2. It condemns that abfolute and fupreme do- 
minion, which men would exercife over the church. 
Were our calling into this affembly natural and hu- 
man, I would confent with all my heart that men 
mould have the authority, and eftablifh an empire as 
abiolute as they could : but as the church is a divine 
fociety, which God only has convened, none but 

* " The covening of the church by the authority of God is 
an important doctrine." Our author affigns his reafons, and 
there are, we think, the three following to be added, i. This is 
a point laboured in the holy fcriptures. God is every where 
made the origin of all religion. 2. This idea agrees with all the 
reft of the plan of redemption ; the oppofite notion is incongrous 
with it. 3, This has always produced, and mult always continue 
to produce the nobleft moral effects. This ltate of things is 
true of individuals, as well as of the church in a collective body. 
Each may truly fay, By grace I am what I am. 1 Cor. xv. 10. 

This doctrine is taught in the epiftle of James i. 17. in hex- 
ameter verfe. The firft line is perfect ; the next becomes fo by a 
fmall tranfpofition. 

Pasa dosis agathe, ki pan dorema leleion 

Tat apo ton pholon patros katabainon anothen„' 

" Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and 
cometh down from the father of lights, &c. " There was in the 
primitive church, among other extraordinary gifts, that of 
pfalmody, 1 Cor. xiv. 26. and it is not improbable that thefe are 
two of the lines, which were then fung in the church, and 
which being quoted by S. James, and preferved to this day, a 
monument of what truths the brethren taught one another in 
pfalms, and hymns^ and fpiritual fongs* CoL iii. 16. 

3O 2 



( m ) 



himfelf can have a right to the fupreme government 
of it. This made S. Paul himfelf, as great an apoflle 
as he was, proteft he had no dominion over the faith * 
of Chriftians. He could not bear to have it faid by 
one, / am of Paul ; and by another, / of Cephas ; 
and by a third, / of dpollos. S. Peter in like manner 
fpeaking to the paftors or elders, and injoining them 
to feed the flock of Jefus Chrift, abfolutely forbids 
their pretenfions to mafterfhip, not (fays he) as being 
lords over God's heritage. 

3. This confideration is alio a motive to holinefs ; 
for as it is God himfelf who has called us, as he has 
honoured us by making us a part of the myftical 
body of his fon, as we live under his divine laws, 
and under his inlpe&ion, w T hat purity ought to pre- 
vail in all our condudt ! 

4. This do&rine of our divine calling furnifhes 
us with abundant matter of confolation in our afflic- 
tions, and aflurance in our dangers. I fay confola- 
tion in our afflictions, fmce we can never fuffer any 

" S. Paul protefted, he had no dominion over faith. 5 ' 2 Cor. i. 
24. Ouk eipen, umon, ALLA tes pisteos, inquit Chryfoitomus 
in locum. 

Dominion over faith is the moft abfurd and impious claim, 
that was ever fet up by bad men ; abfurd, becaufe it can never 
be obtained ; and impious, becaufe it fubverts that very principle 
on which all religion is founded. This is the true reafon of our 
diffent from the epifcopal church in this kingdom. Epifcopalians 
always pretend, that we diffent for trifles, and do fo through 
petulance, caprice, faction, obitinacy and what not: but, when 
the chief ftjepkerd fhall appear, and judge between cattle and cat- 
tie, thefe ihepherds of Ifrael fhall know, that we diffented, be- 
caufe with force and with cruelty they ruled us. a Seem-eth it 
a (mail thing to them to have eaten up the good pafture : but 
they muft tread down the refidue with their feet ; and to have 
drank of the deep waters : but they muft foul the refidue with 
their feet ?" God hath fet up one fhepherd over us ; he is our 
God, and Chrift the prince among us. See Ezek. xxxiv, 17— a 
— 4—18—23—24. . 



( 477 ) 



thing diftreffing enough to make us forget the honour 
of our calling, nor can any of our afflictions com- 
pare with the glory, which is prepared for us. I fay 
alfo affurance in all our dangers ; for, fince it is God 
himfelf, who has called us, he himfelf will alfo fup- 
port us. When he made the world of nature he 
joined the title of preferver to that of creator, and he 
does the fame in grace ; for this reafon the apoftle 
fays, God is faithful, who hath called you to the 
fellozvjhip of his fon ; you fee, the apoftle infers our 
protection from our calling : and in that beautiful 
chain of our falvation, which we have already alledg- 
ed, he joins calling in an indhToluble bond with jut 
tification, and glorification, whom he called, them he 
luffed, and whom he jujlified^ them he alfo gloria 
JUd* 

6. Saint Paul, placing before our eyes the nature 
of chriftian calling, tacitly remarks the difference be- 
tween the works of God, and thofe of the devil. Al- 

* Whom he juftified them he glorified. All our divines allow 9 
that the epiftle to the Romans is a regular fyftem of Chriftian 
theology. It is natural therefore, to expert fome account of 
predeltination. S. Paul actually introduces the word, and treats 
of the fubject, and this verfe feems to be, what Beza calls it» 
the conclufion of his do&rine of j unification, and the introduc- 
tion to that of predeftination. Arminian divines get rid of this 
article by curious criticifms on {ingle terms, and by pretended 
elucidations, which feem not to have fallen under the apoftle's 
notice. Some have faid, " S. Paul puts thefe verbs in aorifto^ 
and an aorift, fay they, is fometimes put for a future, and thus 
a genuine conftruction of the words refutes the predeftinarian 
explication." We plead the fcope of the place again!! fuch 
conclulions as are drawn from grammaticifms. Nothing is 
more frequent among verbal critics than affirming — this place 
may mean fo and fo — this word may be taken in this or that 
fenfe— this phrafe is vague, and has feveral meanings — and fo 
on : but in argumentation it is not fufficient to affirm, the word 
may be underftood thus, it muft be proved, that it muft be un- 
der ft ood thus, and cannot confidently with the fcope of the wri- 
ter, mean otherwife. 



( m } 



rnoft in every thing the devil prefumes to imitate 
God ; but he imitates him in a contrary fenfe. Has 
God his myftery, a myjlery of godlhiefs f the devil 
has his, a myjlery of iniquity. Does God caft his feed 
into the field ? the devil will not fail to fow his : 
but God fows good wheat, Satan tares. God fpoke 
to our firft parents in paradife, and Satan alfo would 
fpeak to them : but God fpoke to make them happy, 
Satan to render them miferable. To come nearer to 
to our fubjecl, God has formed his fociety, he has 
convoked and alfociated men in one body ; the de- 
vil alfo has collected one, he has his voice and cal- 
ling, his fpirit and power, his laws and empire even 
as God has his ; but with this difference, God calls 
us not to uncleannefS) but to holinefs ; the devil calls 
us not to holinefs , but to uncle annefs, the one con- 
duces men from darknefs to light, from fin to holi- 
nefs, from filthinefs to purity ; the other precipi- 
tates them from light to darknefs, and from inno- 
cence to corruption and fin. * 

* Satan imitates God. This idea is common, and feems to be 
well-grounded. S. Paul's words are well known. Satan him- 
felf is transformed into an angel of light — His minifters alfo are 
transformed as the minifters of righteoufnefs— Falfe apoftles 
transform themfelves into the apoftles of Chrift.— I fear, left by 
any means, as the ferpent beguiled Eve, through his fubtility, fo 
your minds mould be corrupted from the fimplicity that is in 
Chrift. 2 Cor. xi. 14, 15, 13, 3. 

The apoftle alfo makes the contraft. God, who commanded 
the light to fhine out of darknefs, hath fhined in our hearts, to 
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face 
of Jefus Chrift— The God of this world hath blinded the minds 
of them which believe not, left the light of the glorious gofpel 
of Chrift fhould mine unto them. 2 Cor. iv. 6, 4. 
To this we afcribe, 1. Hypocrify. 
Satan - — - - was the firft 
That practis'd falfhood under faintly (how, 
Deep malice to conceal, couch'd with revenge. 

Milton Par. Loft B. iv. 1 2. 



( 479 ) 



j. Before I quit this part I cannot deny myfelf 
the liberty of giving a moft certain rule for diftin- 
guifhing the falfe religion from the true. I will 
not fay, falfe religions are thofe, which openly foli- 
cit to fin ; for what religion can you find in the 
world, which does not profefs to forbid vice* and 
command virtue ? but I affirm, fince all falfe reli- 
gions are the productions of the devil, and fince his 
great and ardent defign is to preferve and propagate 
fin amongft men, it is impoffible, there fhould be a 
falfe religion in the world; which does not by covert 
and indirect ways labour to ruin true holinefs, and 
to continue men in fin. Were it otherwife, it would 
be certain, the devil had forgot the art, which he has 
pra&ifed from the beginning of the world. 



- For neither man nor angel can difcem 
Hypocrify, the only ill that walks 

Invifible, except to God alone, 

By his permiffive will through heav'n and earth \ 

And oft though wifdom wake, fufpicicn fleeps 
At wifdom 's gate, and to hmplicity 
Refigns her charge, while wifdom thinks no ill, 
Where no ill feems. B. iii. /. 683 • 

7. The various religions in the pagan world. There were 
temples — oracles — facrifices— priefts — prophefies— miracles, Sec. 

3. The feveral corruptions of revealed religion. The true 
chriftian church has Chrift for its head — fcripture for its law— 
minilters for officers, &c — The papal church has a pope for its 
head— traditions for laws— priefts for officers— twelve cardinal 
prielts in imitation of twelve apoftles— cardinal deacons in imi- 
tation of the feventy diiciples, &c The whole of popery is a 
devililh imitation of a godlike ceconomy : but the former tends 
all to mifchief and mifery, while the latter is productive of no- 
thing but holinefs and felicity. Rome calls to flavery 5 God to 
liberty — Rome to bigotry ; God to benevolence— Rome to fu- 
perftition ; God to rational piety — the one to uncleannefs j the 
other to holinefs. 



( 480 ) 



Allow me to fhew you this peaceably without of- 
fending any of you, Confider, I befeech you, that 
religion, which under the fair pretence of mortifica- 
tions, fafts, penitential habits, and other fuch aufteri- 
ties, fills the minds of men with pride and prefump- 
tion under pretence of merit, metamorphofing men 
into proud Pharifees, and teaching each to fay, Ifajl 
twice a week, I give tithes of all I poffefs, I am 
not as other men^ not as that publican. * 

Confider that religion, which under the admirable 
vail of good works, and a£ts of devotion, makes the 
greateft part of piety confift in actions altogether fuper- 
ftitious, vain, and ridiculous: committing the two evils, 
with which God formerly reproached the Jews, for- 
faking the fountain of living waters, and hewing out 
to themfelves broken ciflerns^ which can hold none. Is 
not the religion we fpeak of guilty of this ? almoft 
all its devotion ftands in the choice of foods, in the 
celebration of feafts, in pilgrimages, in touching and 
venerating relics, in telling beads, in vifiting tombs, 
and in other things of the fame kind, f 

Confider that religion, which under pretence of 
humility and godly fear forbids men ever to be afiii- 
red of their falvation, and commands them to remain 
always ignorant or uncertain of participating the fa- 
vour of God when they die. Is not this entirely to 

* Confider that religion, which cherifhes pride - Mr Claude 
means popery, a religion (if it be not profane to call fuch a far- 
rago religion) calculated to gratify the molt boundlefs ambition. 

f Confider that religion, which places piety in fuperflition* It is 
Somewhat remarkable, that, in the index to the beft edition of the 
council of Trent, the allowed authentic fyftem of modern po- 
pery, we do not once meet with the word piety, fo that we know 
not what the church places it in. What a body of divinity ! The 
Pope (Pontifex) indeed is there, and above forty references un- 
der it. So very intent is papal zeal on eftablilhing popery, that 
it forgets even to mention piety ! 



( 481 ) 



reverfe falsification, and to deftroy its true principle ? 
for the principle of true holinefs, or, to fpeak more 
properly, the eflence and foul of holinefs, what is it ? 
is it not that filial love, which we have for God ? but 
how can that love fubfift with a perpetual uncertain- 
ty ? how ftand with perpetual doubts whether God 
be a friend or an enemy, whether he refolve to fave 
or to deftroy us ? and with thefe cruel perplexities* 
which accompany this uncertainty, whatever good I 
do, whatever righteoufnefs I am enabled to do, how- 
ever abundant the meafures of grace, which God 
communicates to me, I cannot alTure myfelf either of 
my election or perfeverance, and muft believe, per- 
haps God has rejected me, and will eternally deftroy 
me. I muft fuppofe that, notwithftanding all the 
grace, which he has hitherto bellowed upon me, not- 
withftanding the remiffion of my fins which he has 
granted me, notwithftanding his bringing me into 
communion with Jefus Chrift, notwithftanding his 
giving me his holy fpirit, yet all this does not hinder 
that he may hate me in his heart, and perhaps may 
have hated me eternally. Tell me, pray, is this to 
reprefent God as an amiable being ? is not this over- 
turning holinefs inftead of eftabliming it ? * 

* " Confider that religion, which forbids aflurance, undet 
pretence of humility." We have mentioned this fuhjeft before- 
See voh i. 258, 259. The church of Rome, by inculcating the 
doctrine of human merit, deftroys aflurance, as many of our old 
divines have fully (hewn. The pretence of humility deferves to 
be exploded ; for the fineft notion we can form of one chriftiaa 
grace is to confider it as in perfect harmony with all other chri- 
stian graces. True faith is always humble ; and genuine humi« 
lity is in perfect harmony with faith. Half the religion of fome 
good people among proteftants confifts of doubting and com- 
plaining, and under pretence of humility too : but their folly 
lhould not be charged on the conftitution of things among us, 
Papifts have uncertain grounds of acting and believing, as tradi- 
tions, ecclefiafticai archives, papal infallibility, and fp on 5 but 

3* 1 



( 482 ) 



Let us pafs now to the fecond part of our text ; it 
confifts in the afmrance, which the apoftle gives that 
the doctrine he propofes is inviolable, and entirely 
divine. He therefore (adds he) that defpifeth, defpi- 
feth ?iGtman, but God, who hath alfo given unto us his 
holy fpirit. 

You muft obferve, firft, that we mufl not think, 
that by this rejection of the dodrine, the apoftle 
means fimply fuch an open and declared rejection as 
infidels make, fuch an one as Jews and Pagans make, 
who openly blafpheme the gofpel. It is not likely 
S. Paul addreffed himfelf here to people, who did 
not at all acknowledge chriftianity ; he fpeaks to chri- 
ftians who were called already to the profeffion of 
chriftianity in the church, and who externally embra- 
ced the religion of Jefus Chrift. It is lefs likely ftill, 
that, among the profeffors of chriftianity, there mould 
be any found in the apoftles times, who boldly and 
openly denied the neceffity of fan&ification and good 
works. There were indeed afterward certain here- 
ticks called Gnoftics to whom they impute horrible 
maxims upon this fubjecT: ; but, befides that it is very 
doubtful whether thefe people held all the maxims 
charged upon them, befides this, I fay, I do not think 
the iedt was fprung up when S. Paul wrote this epi- 
ftle to the ThefTalonians, or if it were in embryo, it 
was not yet formed completely, nor publicly known *• 

proteftants lay the fure word of God as ground of faith. Papifts 
are required to yield implicit faith in the unexamined opinions 
of others : but proteftants are required to fee with their own eyes* 
to believe on their own evidence. The parallel might be run a 
great way : but thefe hints are fufficient to {hew which commu- 
nity conftitutionally produces faith, and which generates fear. . 

* Gnoftics. Other herefies in the primitive church had their 
names from their authors, as Marcionites. Carpocratians, Valen- 
tinians, &c. but Gnqflic feems to be common to them all, and if 
we may judge by the word, a Gnoftic was one. who placed his 



( 483 ) 



I am therefore perfuaded, S. Paul fpeaks here of ano- 
ther kind of contempt, he that defpifeth is he, who 
practically defpifeth, who profeffing to be a chriftian 
yet remains immerfed in fin, and not in any way de- 
voting himfelf to holinefs. The apoftle fpeaks a- 
gainft fuch defpifers as thefe, and of thefe he fays, 
they defpife not man but God, * 

religion in {peculation only ; a man might therefore be a Gnoftic 
not only by believing errors, but even by miftaking the end of 
evangelical truths, which are revealed not barely to gratify fpe- 
culation, but to direct practice. I fuppofe it is difficult to fay 
at what time this fpirit firft wrought in the churches, but it is 
certain, the epiftle of James is directed againft it, the whole de- 
fign of that apoftle being to {hew the ufeleiThefs of believing even 
truth itfelf, without a correfponding conduct. 

" It is doubtful, whether the Gnoftics were known in S. Paul's 
time/' Mr Claude follows Clement of Alexandria, who affirms, 
that the Gnoftic feci: firft rofe under the emperor Adrian. It 
(hould feemfrom i John ii. 18 — I Tim. vi. 20.— Col. xi. 8. — 
that the Gnoftic herefy did fpring up in the days of the apoftles: 
but, it is certain, it was not very confpicuous till Adrian's time. 

" It is doubtful whether the Gnoftics held all the doctrines 
ufually imputed to them.'' This amiable fpirit of equity deferves 
to be imitated, efpecially in an inveftigation of primitive errors. 
No part of church hiftory needs more elucidation. All, who 
difputed with the prevailing party, and difiented from them, were 
reputed . heretics j and their tale was told by their opponents. 
We know by experience how domineering parties tell the tales of 
the oppreiTed. Few take pains to underftand pretended here- 
tics, and fewer ftill have the courage to do them juftice. It is 
almoft impoffible to believe, that thefe people held fuch notions 
of the firft caufe — the holy fcriptures — Jefus Chrift — and mora- 
lity—as are imputed to them. 

Prifcillian, bifhop of Abila, is faid to have revived the old 
Gnoftic doctrine in Spain in the fourth century. Ithacius, bifhop 
of Sofiuba, procured firft from the emperor Gratian his banifh- 
ment, and afterward from the emperor Maximus his death, 
This Ithacius was the firft perfon who introduced civil perfecu- 
tion into the church. 

* Defpifeth God, Sin is a practical contempt of God, They 
rebelled againft the words of God, and contemned the counfel of 
the moft high. Pfal, cvii. 1 1 — Wherefore doth the wicked con- 
temn God ? Pfalm x. 13, — Hence the exhortation of S. Paul, 
Dejpije not prophefyings* 1 ThelT. v. 20. Our Lord explains and 

3P2 



( 484 ) 



There is a great deal of reafon to think, the apo- 
file fpeaks of fuch, for, it is certain, thefe are the 
molt cruel enemies of religion, and the moft odious 
kind of men, that can be imagined in a church, They 
are odious, for to all the other vices, with which 
they are infedted, they join hypocrify ; they have the 
voice of Jacob and the hands of Efau ; whited fepuU 
chres, under fair outfides concealing rottennefs and 
putrefaction, They, who are openly profane, are 
not, however, fuch deceivers as thefe, they do not 
deceive us, they impofe upon nobody: but thefe are 
Importers, * who hide the horror of their crimes un-» 
der a fair exterior ; falfe prophets, who fay Lord, 
Lord, and who yet remain workers of iniquity ', and 
what in the world can be fo odious as this ? Thefe 
are the moft cruel enemies of the church and of re*- 
ligion, thefe do us a hundred times more harm than 

reproves this difpofition. Mat. xxii. 5. A certain king fent his 
iervants — to fay— come unto the marriage— but they " made 
light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his 
merchandize.'' u The feat of fcorners, fays Dr, Manton, is the 
higher! degree of fin." Pfal. i. *. 

* Whited Sepulchres. Mat. xxiii. 27. Our Lord alludes to the 
popular cuftom of covering common graves with lime or chalk, 
or with a whited board, rail, or ftone, which was done annually, 
"when the roads were repaired, on the firft of Adar, in our Fe- 
bruary. The general intention was to prevent travellers contrac- 
ting a ceremonial uncleannefs by touching the dead, The 
whitenefs warned them to avoid the place. The Pharifees, af- 
fecting fuperior piety, " built tombs for the prophets, and gar- 
liifhed the fepulchrcs of the righteous. Verfes 29, 30. Some 
graves, either through poverty, neglect, or heavy rains warning 
off the thin whitening, " appeared not, and men, that walked 
over them, were not aware of them. Luke xi. 44. To thefe 
three forts of graves our Lord likens the pharifees, that is to fay, 
he considered their hypocrify in three different points of light. 
Their exterior concealed their odious inward difpofitions — It made 
a great fiew in the eyes of mankind — and it deceived the unwary 
into a dangerous admiration and imitation of them, 



( 485 ) 

the mod open, declared, perfecuting enemies can do, 
however proud and vindictive the latter may be. 

Declared enemies calumniate religion; but they 
are not believed, and religion fufficiently defends it- 
felf againft their accufations; but thefe are common- 
ly believed, when they difhonour chriftian piety. 
Why (fay people) fhould we not believe them? thefe 
are friends and not enemies, their defigns are evident, 
it is a fpirit of religion which animates them. Per- 
fecutors only trouble the outward ftate of the church, 
and frequently while they difturb its outward repofe 
they contribute (in fpite of their defigns) to augment 
its faith and holinefs; but thefe wicked hypocrites, 
of whom we fpeak, attack the very vitals of religion, 
and by their contagious and bad examples furprize 
the fimple and defile their piety. But why do I 
fpeak of the fimple? the ftrongeft chriftians, even 
thofe, who are fartheft advanced in the practice of 
piety, cannot fecure themfelves againft their poifon; 
for what can be more dangerous than a bad example, 
which infinuates under the veil of brotherhood and 
friendfhip? A little leaven (fays the apoftle) leaveneth 
the whole lump. A vicious converfation is a pefti- 
lent difeafe in the church, or, if you will, it is afpark 
of fire in a ftackof ftraw. Alas! we are all, great and 
little, ftrong and weak, too much like combuftible, 
matter, we have all of us too much inclination to fin 
when we are tempted on any fide, and how much 
more liable are we to fall into it when aflaulted from 
a quarter, of which we were not aware, and confe- 
quently for which we were not prepared? * 

* Hypocrites. Our divine matter had fuch an abhorrence 
of hypocrify, that he not only commanded his foilowers not to 
be hypocrites, but not to be like them. 

Mat. vi. 2. " When thou dolt thine alms, do not— as the 



( 4S6 ) 

2. But you will aflc me, are all thofe hypocrites, 
who fin in the church ? Are there ao true believers, 
who fometimes backflide from holinefs, and who 
confequently offaid fome of the brethren, and give 
bad examples to all? Alas! too many true believers 
fall into fin ; and, I doubt not, St Paul had thefe in 
view, and addreffed thefe words to them as well as 
to hypocrites, comprehending both in the number 
of defpifers of this do&rine. I grant, when a be- 
liever falls into fome fin, it does not follow from 
thence that he has abfolutely reje&ed the dodrine 
of fandification. God forbid we {hould think fo ! 
he falls through infirmity, for our regeneration is 
never fo entire as to exclude all remains of weaknefs 
in our underftandings and affections ; and if thofe, 
who declaim upon this fubjed, were better acquain- 
ted with human nature, they would not fay fo pe- 
remptorily as they do, that fin could not dwell in 
the fame heart with faith and love, and the other 
principles of regeneration. To prove this, I only 
adduce the example of St Peter. Who can believe 
that when Jefus Chrift faid to him, / have prayed 
for thee that thy faith fail not; who, I fay, can be- 
lieve that thefe words are to be underftood only of 
fome bare illuminations of his underltanding, w ith- 
out any true piety or love in his heart ? Who can 
believe, that St Peter in the moment of his fall, when 
he was carried away with impetuous fear, fuddenly 
felt all love and piety expire in his heart? Who can 

hypocrites do — 5. When thou prayeft, thou (halt not be as the 
hypocrites are. — 16. When ye faft, be not as the hypocrites — 
8. 13e not ye therefore like unto them." As if the Lord had faid, 
Do not affect to perform your religious exercifes as thefe men 
perform the fame exercifes. Do not, under any fpecious pre- 
tences, imitate them. This is advice of great importance, and de- 
fences more attention than hath ufually been paid to it. 



{ 487 ) 

think, that all his attachments to his divine mafter 
were fuddenly diflblved in fo complete and abfolute 
a manner, that there did not remain in the bot- 
tom of his heart the leaft confideration for him ? 
His ready return to Jefns Chrift, when Jefus Chrift 
looked at him, accompanied with bitter repenting tears, 
fully proves, that if his love and piety had fuffered an 
eclipfe, they were not however annihilated. In ef- 
fect, we muft judge of the fpiritual as of the natural 
life, both may undergo very great and enervating 
changes without perifhing entirely. 

We muft then, it feems, diftinguifli an abfolute 
from a partial contempt of the doctrine of holinefs** 

* Diftinguifh an abfolute from a partial contempt of fan&ifi- 
Cation. There are three principal reafons for this distinction., 

1 . Hence arifes an argument for chriftianity againft the pleas o£ 
falfe religions. You object, fays Tertullian to the pagans fome- 
where, you objecl: againft us, that we have many unrighteous 
perfons in our community. We allow it: but fee how you and 
we differ. Our unrighteous members are reproved, and if in- 
corrigible are expelled ; but among you the wicked are cherifti- 
ed, honoured and adored. I forget where this paffage is, and 
as I quote it from my memory, probably it is not exact. The 
fentiment, however, is juft, and applicable to modern infidelity. 

2. This diftinction mould be made for the fake of thofe pious 
fouls in our communities, whofe ignorance would drive them 
to defpair, after through infirmity they had fallen unwarily in- 
to fin, were they not informed of the difference between fins of 
infirmity, and fins of enmity. 3. Chriftian minifters mould 
inculcate this diftinction in regard to church-difcipline. It hap- 
pens, fometimes, that there are in chriftian churches pious per- 
ions phyfically defective. Such are they, who have been dif 
ordered in their fenfes, and who after recovery retain a certain 
wildnefs and irregularity in all they do. Such alfo are they, 
who are constantly or periodically afflicted with lownefs of fpi- 
rits, or what is ft ill worfe, a too great flow of animal fpi« 
rits, animating them to take bold ftrides in their deportment* 
God forbid, we Ihould deny thefe people the comforts of reli- 
gion! In order, however, to their enjoyment of them, it is ne- 
ceffary not to exact that uniformity of action in them, which 
would be effentially requfite, were they phyfically perfect* A- 
las I who can underftand his errors ! Let us not beat thefe fete 



( 488 ) 

Hypocrites, who under the mafk of external profei- 
fion conceal a profane heart, and live a profane life, 
are guiity of the firft rejedion ; and the faithful, 
when they fall into fin, are guilty of the fecond; but, 
be it which it may, it is always true, that every fm 
which we commit, however fmall, is a contempt of 
the dodrine of fandification ; fordid we obierve 
it as we ought, we fhould never fin f as the gofpei 
is not content to demand an imperfect fandification 
of us, but on the contrary it exacts a complete and 
perfed holinefs, as well in degrees as in parts, fo that 
always, when we commit any fin, we do in a man- 
ner renounce the honour of our calling, and commit 
an outrage on the dodrine of Jefus Chrift. 

3. I fay on the dodrine of Jefus Chrift, that is, on 
the fon of God, even on God himfelf ; for this law 
of holinefs is neither of St Paul, nor of any other 
man, but of God and his beloved fon ; he that def- 
pifeth (fays the apoftle) defpifeth not man but God, 
He means, that he rejeds the authority of God 
himfelf, who is the author and publifher of this law. 
Every fin contains two, one confifts in our doing a 
thing bad in its nature, and contrary to that public 
and inviolable order according to which reafonable 
creatures ought to ad; the other confifts in our of- 
fendingthe infinite authority andmajefty of our legifla- 
tor,and in revolting from the obedience we owe him. 
St Paul, having regard to the firft, calls fins unclean- 
nejfes contrary to true holinefs; but in regard to the 
fecond, he calls them rejeclions of God y that is, rebel- 
lions againft his fupreme authority; doubdefs a great 

low-fervants. They are objects of pity, and fhould be borne 
with in the church as far as poffible; for, poor fouls! what fhould 
they do in the world? Here they are irregular and queer; but 
there they would be driven raving mad, 



( 489 } 

and enormous crime, and worthy of the moft: rlgo« 
rous punifhment. * 

For this reafon (by the way) we reject that frivo- 
lous diftincYion, which the fchoolmen in the church 
of Rome have invented, of venial fins. 

It is moft certain, that the fmalleft fins which 
can be committed, contain in them that rebellion, 
of which we fpeak, fince, however fmall the offen- 
ces may feem confidered in themfelves, they are al* 
ways violations of the law of the ineffable majefty 
of God, who forbids them; and this violation, ia 
what manner foever you confider it, muft needs 
deferve death. What can appear fmaller confidered 
in itfelf than the fin of our fi'riJ parents ? Eating a 
fruit agreeable to the eyes and tafte, and feemingly 
defigned by nature only for the nourishment of ani- 
mal life, was that fuch a mighty thing? But what- 
ever the adfton was, confidered in itfelf, it was for** 
bidden, nor could our firft parents do it without op- 
poling the infinite majefty of their creator , who 
had faid to them, you fjall not eat it; they could not 

* Sin is bad in its nature, and it is alfo an offence againft the 
infinite authority of God our legiilator. This is a truly chriftiaa 
obfervation, and this way of Itating fin, in order to difcover 
its turpitude, and to deftroy its empire is one noble advantage, 
which a chriftian minifter poffefies above a mere moral philo- 
fopher. The philofopher confiders fin as a difordering of the 
eftablifhed courie of things, as heterogeneous and incongruous. 
The fervant of Chrift adopts this idea, and adds another, which 
makes the incongruity appear horrible. He introduces a legif- 
lator, reads his law, explains its purity, exhibits revealed mo- 
tives of obeying it, expofes the folly of refilling God, and fo 
poffelfes the foul of the finner with a moft wife and cordi- 
al averfion to fin, along with a juft and affectionate obedience 
to God. The written law is a fet of true words given from 
one fhepherd, and in the hand of a wife mafter of public alfem- 
blies, thefe words are as goads, and as nails faftened. Ecc! . xij* 

IO, I fm 

3 Q 



( 490 ) 



do this without refilling that obedience, which they 
owed to God, nor consequently without falling into 
that which conftitutes the eflence of the greateft of 
all crimes. * 

* That fin has entered into the world nobody difallows. Alas! 
who does not feel irregularities in his own bofom ? That it en- 
tered by one man, and from him defcends to all his pofterity, 
as the fcripture teaches, we have all the reafon in the world to 
believe : but how to reconcile this with the divine perfections is 
the queftion. Take which fide of the queftion you will, believe 
with fome that we bring our propenfities to fin into the world 
with us ; or believe with others, that we catch the contagion 
here, difficulties there are, and difficulties there will be on either 
fide. The fact is undeniable, I am a finner, I enquire how I be- 
came fo ? and how a gracious God could fuffer fuch a misfor- 
tune to befal me ? Are my difficulties all folved by proving that 
not Adam, but a carelefs tutor, a loofe companion, or a bad 
neighbour corrupted my innocence ? Not in the leaft, I have as 
much to fay againft God in one view as in the other ; nay he, 
who holds original fin, appears to me the molt reafonable man, 
for he fays, God allowed fin to enter once by one man •, but he 
who denies it tells me, that God does this ten thoufand times 
over every day, and that, though purity is his own image, yet 
he fuffers thoufands of innocent creatures to be rifled of it e- 
very hour. — I fhall be forgiven for interrupting Mr Claude a few 
moments longer, while his countryman Saurin gives us a ufeful 
word of advice. 

" It is a maxim, from which a divine ought never to depart, 
that, though we know in general what the attributes of God 
are, yet we are profoundly ignorant in determining their fphere 
of action. We know in general that God is free, that he is jull 
and that he is merciful: but we are very ignorant in determining 
how far thefe perfections ought to go, becaufe their infinity ab- 
forbs our capacity. An example will make this plainer. Sup- 
pofe two philofophers fubfifting before the foundation of the 
world, and difcourfmg together upon the plan of the world, 
which God was about to create. Suppofe the firft of thefe phi- 
lofophers had maintained this thefis. God will create intelli- 
gent beings, he could if he pleafed communicate fuch know- 
ledge to them as would necefiarily conduct them to the chief 
good : but he will give them reafon, which by their abufe will 
conducl; them from ignorance to vice, from vice to mifery. 
Moreover, God is about to form a world, where virtue will al- 
moft always be in fetters, and vice upon a throne, tyrants 
crowned, and good people confounded. Suppofe the firft of our 



( 491 ) 

How needful is it to have this truth continually 
in view, that we may not deceive ourfelves as we 
too often do ! I do not know how it comes to pafs : 
but when we judge of fins we almoft always con- 
fider them only as they are in themfelves ; and hence 
in general they appear to us fmall and trifling, not 
worthy of our attention, and lefs ftill of our repen- 
tance, after we have committed them. Is not this a 
moft lamentable felf-deception ? We do not remem- 
ber, that, however inconiiderable our fins may be in 
themfelves, they are always extremely confiderable 
in regard to our fupreme legiflator, who has forbid- 
den them, for they are nothing lefs than fo many 
rejections of the bleffed God. 

4. Remark here, I intreat you, the conduit of S. 
Paul. He does not tell the Theflalonians of his own 
authority ; nor does he cloath himfelf with fuperb 
and pompous titles in order to conciliate refpect to 
his perfon, and veneration for his do&rine ; he does 
not fpeak to them concerning his rapture to the 
third heaven, nor of his vifions, nor of his miracles, 
nor of his labours, nor even of the perfections, 
which he had fuffered for religion, although all thefe 
ought to have rendered him very refpe£table among 

philofophers had maintained this thefis, would not the fecond 
have remonftrated againft this plan ? would he not in all appear- 
ance have had reafon to maintain, that, God being full of good- 
nefs, it was impomble he mould create men, whofe exiiience 
would be their mifery ; that, being fupremely holy, it was not 
pofiible he mould permit fin to enter into the world ? yet 
however plaulible the reafons of this philofopher might have 
appeared, the event has juftified the former. It is certain, God 
has created this world upon his plan, and it is alfo certain there 
is nothing in this world, which clafhes with his attributes, 
whatever pains we are at to anfwer objections. It is our little- 
nels, they are the narrow limits of our minds, and the immenfity 
of God himfelf, which prevent our feeing how far the attributes 
of God can go." Saur.fer.fur les tourm. de I'enfer, torn, ii , 

3Q2 



( 492 ) 



good people. When it was needful to exalt the grace 
of God to him, he fpoke of his raptures, miracles, 
and vifions ; and when it was needful to fhew the 
faithfulnefs of his conduct in difcharging his mini- 
ftry, againft the bold accufations of his enemies, he 
recounted his voyages, labours, and perfecutions: but 
when he had a law to impofe upon men's confciences, 
or a dodtrine of faith, or a rule of condud to efta- 
blifh, he introduced it only with the name of God. 
Nothing but what is divine ; no confideradon at all 
of man is mentioned here ; for faith and confcience 
acknowledge no authority but that of God, nor obey 
any voice but that of the common mafter of all 
creatures, We preach not our/elves, but Chriji Jefus 
the Lord, and ourfelves your fervants, fays the a- 
poftle elfe where. Herein he refembles the prophets 
who, when they advanced any thing, always ufed 
this preface, Thus faith the Lord. With this view 
our apoftle, fpeaking of himfelf and his affociates, 
fays, we have this treafure in earthen veffels, that the 
excellency of the power may be of God y and not of 
us. * 

* Ccnfcience acknowledges no authority but that of God, Mr 
Claude treats of this interrefting fubjecl at large in his defence 
of the reformation, and eftablifhes the proportion above with 
his ufual ability in three chapters. Chap. vii. is thus intitled, 
*j The authority of the prelates of the latin church ought not to 
have obliged our anceftors to yield a blind obedience to them, 

nor to prevent an examination of their doctrine for i. The 

word of God exprefsly forbids all paftoral domination, Luke xxii. 
•25, 26. — 1 Pet. ^. 3. — 2 Cor. i. 24, — Mat. xxiii. 8, 9, 10.— 2 
The fcripture commands all believers to examine for themfelves, 
Mat. xvii, 6, 12. — 1 John iv. 1. — 2 Cor, iv. 2. — Gal. i. 8, &c. 
- — 3. God gave the holy fcriptures to all the people, Deut. v. i, 
£tc. — iv. 10. — vi. 6, 7, &c. — Pfalm i. 2.— Rom. i. 7. — John v. 
39. — A&s xvii, 11." — The eighth chapter proves " that prelatU 
eal authority over confcience is the moil pernicious maxim in 
lie world— for on this ground 1 . The Jews would have been 



1 



( 493 ) 



5- But, you will fay, the ThefTalonians had re- 
ceived the do&rines of the gofpel, and particularly 
this do&rine of the neceffity of holinefs from the 
mouth of man only, methinks, they could therefore 
only confider it as the doctrine of man, and confe- 
quently that, by defpifing it, they ran no other rifque 
than that of defpifing a man. S. Paul precludes this 
objection in the laft words of our text. God (faith 
he) has alfo given unto us his holy Jpirit. It is al- 
moft as if he had faid, I own, I brought this gofpel 
to you, but I was not the author of it ; I am only a 
fimple inftrument, a fecond caufe,for all, that I have 
preached to you, comes from the Holy Ghoft. It 
was he, who directed my fteps toward you, he o- 
pened my mouth, and he formed the w 7 ords, which 1 
have fpoken to you. * 

right in retaining the traditions of the elders — 2. God would 
have been unjuft in punifhing the whole nation with captivity 
in Babylon. — 3. The Jews would have done right in rejecting 
and crucifying Chrift.— 4. Jefus Chrift, his apoftles, and difci- 
pies would have acted unjuftly. — 5. The pagans would have 
done right to reject the gofpel. — 6. Sometimes Arians would 
have been right, for in fome councils they were in power ; and 
at other times oppofite teachers would have been right for the 
fame reafon — God himfelf frequently waives his authority in 
propofmg truths, and leaves them to examination ; fo that thefe 
two conclufions may be feparately and independently drawn. 
This dodrine is true — This doctrine is divine, &c." s The ninth 
chapter examines, and refutes all the pretended reafons brought 
by prelates for the fupport of their ufurped authority, and the 
author, having quoted feveral palfages of fcripture in defence of 
his doctrine, concludes thus, " Were the members of the church 
of F.ome accuftomed to read the holy fcriptures, they would 
meet with a thoufand proofs of this truth j but molt of our con- 
troverts originate in their negligence of this divine book, and 
their negligence of the book proceeds from their exceffive con« 
fidence in their guides." 

* The holy Gho/l formed the words wliich I have fpoken to you*. 
The pfalmift gives the higheft characters of the words of the 
holy ghoft in thefe propofitions. — The law of the Lord is perfect, 
— The teftimony of the Lord is fure. — The ftatutes of the Lord 



( 494 ) 



This advances the truth of S. Paul's miniftry, and 
gives a furpreme authority to his words ; but it no 
way exalts his perfon, any more than as an inter- 
preter, whom it had pleafed God to choofe; now this 
teaches us, 

1. That the apoflles faid nothing of themfelves; 
but that they were infpired by the holy fpirit, who 
fent them. 

2. That they themfelves knew they were infpired; 
for the fame fpirit, who fpoke by them, gave them 
the knowledge of it, not indeed by fenfible characters 
as he did the prophets, but by the confideration of 
the majefty and fan&ity of their meffage, and by 

are right. — The commandment of the Lord is pure, — &c. xix. 7, 
8, Slc. What he elfewhere fays of thunder may be truly applied 
to the written word. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the 
voice of the Lord is full of majefty, xxix. 4. How miimatched 
are the trite additions of men, when joined to them ! They are 
the fqueakings of a puppet affecting to imitate and perpetuate 
thunder. If there be any cafe, in which it is unlawful to add, or 
take away. (Rev. xxii. 18, 19) it muft needs be in the admini- 
stration of the two ftanding ordinances, baptifm and the Lord's 
fupper, Jefus Chrift ordained the firft to be adminiftered " in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghoft, 
Mat. xxviii 19." What authority for adding, " We receive this 
child into the congregation of Chrift's flock, and do fign him 
with the fign of the crofs, &c ?" 

A certain writer objected againft the epifcopal church, " that 
in the adminiftration of the communion the priefts added words 
of their own to the words of Chrift's inftitution, as preferve thy 
body and foul unto everlafting life. A prieft, who undertook 
the defence of his practice, informed him —that it was a lovely 
practice — that there was no harm in it— and that, had not the 
church provided thefe words, fome men would ufe worfe. One 
ufed to carry the cup to each communicant, and, when he deli- 
vered it to one, to fay— Dare you take this ? — to another, Take 
this, and love Chrift's minifters better— to a third, Here, take 
this, and leave off your lying — to a fourth, Take this, and take 
heed the devil does not enter into you." Would not one think, 
thefe animals were retained to burlefque religion ! Barbotfs Li" 
turgy y a divine fer vice ^ obj. 35* 



( 495 ) 

comparing their preaching with the powers of na« 
ture, which was never capable of forming a doctrine 
lo effectual. To this may be added, that St Paul, 
who as well as the other apoftles having received his 
miffion immediately from Jefus Chrift, muft ration- 
ally conclude, that he, who had conftituted him a- 
poftle of the gentiles, and had appointed him to fo 
great a work as the converfion of the heathen, had 
not refufed him the extraordinary influence of his 
grace. 

In fine, his own experience muft eafily convince 
him that he was animated with the Spirit of Jefus 
Chrift in a degree, which rendered his doctrine in- 
fallible, as he had not only not taught any thing fo- 
reign from the true gofpel of Jefus Chrift ; but he 
had been enabled to penetrate all its myfteries in a 
wonderful manner, as we may fee in his epiftles* 
This is the teftimony, which himfelf bears in this e- 
piftle, Our exhortation (fays he) was not of deceit, nor 
of uncleannefs, nor in guile, but as we were allowed of 
God, to be put in trnjl with the gofpel, even fo we 
fpeak, not as pleafing men, but God, who trieth our 
hearts. And this was what obliged the faithful to 
receive the word with an entire obedience, as he fays 
in another place in this epiftle, we thank God with- 
out ceafing, becaufe when ye received the word of 
God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the 
word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God % 
which effeclually worketh alfo in you that believe. 

6 Finally, you may remark, that the faith of 
thefe believers was produced by the conjunction of 
two fpirits, or to fpeak more properly, by one and 
the fame fpirit working in two places ; in the fa* 
culty of the hearer, this we call the interior fpirit 
communicated to each believer ; and in the mini* 



( 4D6 ) 

fixation of the word, this we call the exterior fpirit. 
From this conjun&ion arifes that approbation or con- 
fent, which we give to the myfteries of grace, and 
that perfuafion, which we have of their truth, f 

If you fuppofe, that the fpirit of God illuminates 
and animates the faculty of man, and that an object 
purely human, or one, in which the fpirit of God is 
not, is applied, this conjunction can only pro- 
duce refiftance and reje&ion; inftead of perfuafion ; 
becaufe the fpirit of God, which is in the faculty, and 
the fpirit of falfhood, which is in the miniftry, can 
never unite. For this reafon, S. John in his firft 
epiftle affures the faithful, that they mould not be 
left to the fedu&ions of falfe teachers, for (fays he) 
you have an unclion from the holy one, that is from 
the fpirit of God. 

If on the other hand you fuppofe the fpirit of God 
in the preaching the of word, and in the faculty or un- 
derftanding of the hearer the fpirit of vanity, and the 
fpirit of the world, nothing can be produced by fuch 
a conjunction but infidelity and rebellion againft the 
gofpel ; for the reafon before-mentioned, becaufe the 
one fpirit being heavenly, and the other earthly, 
they can never unite with each other ; and it is in 
fuch a cafe that S. Paul fays to the Corinthians, if 
our gofpel be hid, it is hid to them that are lof, in 
Whom the God of this zvorld hath blinded the minds 
of them, ivhieh believe not 

f The holy fpirit works exteriorly in the word, and interiorly in the 
believer, that is to fay, the holy fpirit propofeth truth in the fcrip- 
lures, and formeth in thofe, who believe, difpofitions to admit it. 
This dodtrine is utterly incompatible with all that ecclefiaftical 
artifice, which places religion in fubmiffion to authority. This 
deprives us of fcripture, the only rule of faith, and gives us in- 
ftead of it a human Creed: and it renders perfonal conviction 
unneceffary. 



( 497 ) 



This may ferve for an example of difcuflmg texts 
by obfervations ; but to thefe two general ways of 
difcuflion, explication, and obfervation, there may be 
added two more, which it will be proper fometimes 
to life ; thefe I proceed to mention, and I flia.ll de- 
vote to each a feparate chapter. 



CHAR VII. 

Of Texts to be difcuffed in a way of continued 
Application. 

T 7t7E have faid, there are two general ways of dit 
v * cuffing a text, that of explication, and that of 
obfervation. Thefe two ways of preaching w r e call 
textuary, becaufe, in effect, they keep to the text 
without digreffion, they regard it as the fubj eft-mat- 
ter of the whole difcuffion, or if you pleafe, as the 
field, which they have to cultivate, or to reap ; but, 
befide thefe, there is a third way, which is, without 
explaining or making obfervations, the making of a 
continual application of it, and the reducing of it 
immediately to pra&ice. % 

In this manner we muft principally manage texts 
exhorting to holinefs, and repentance, as this of Ze~ 
phania, examine yourf elves diligently, 0 ?iailon not 

\ Make a continual application of the text. The capital art of a 
preacher is to bring his fubject home to the boforns of his hear- 
ers. Divines take different methods of doing this ; fome apply- 
as they go on, others referve the application to the laft, and clofe 
the fermon with it. When all the parts of a fermon tend to ef- 
tablifh one point, then the application fhould be referved till the 
clofe : but when each part eilablimeth a different article,, then 
each fhould be applied, as the preacher goes on, 

3 R 



( 498 ) 



definable ; for, inflead of explaining the terms—-K}f 
making obfervations on the neceffity of the exhor-* 
tation- — the prophet who fpoke it — the Jews to 
whom it is addreiTed — the defcription of the nation 
not defreable — the mercy of God in calling thefe 
fmners to repentance, &c. the whole may very life- 
fully be turned into practice, and we may enter upon 
that ferious felf-examination, which the prophet 
commands. 

The fame may be faid of i Cor. xi. 2 8. Let a 
man examine himfelf and fo let him eat of that bread 
and dr'mk of that cup ; for laying afide all theologi- 
cal obfervations, you may actually enter upon felf- 
examination. x 

X Enter upon examination* Of this kind is a fermon of Fene» 
Ion on true and folid piety. The text is Ifzu xxxviii. 15. I 
ihall go foftly all my years in the bitternefs of my foul. He be- 
gins by obferving how neceffary it is for finners to make an ex- 
act fcrutiny of their fins, that they may humble themfelves be- 
fore God, and even for the greateft faints, left their very graces 
become hurtful, or the means of infpiring them with pride, 
prefumption, and felf-complacence. " The deceitful balances 
of the world, adds he, which the fcripture calls abominable, are 
very different from thofe, which the juftice of God ufes to weigh 
our actions ; let us not content ourfelves with a conduct out- 
wardly regular, let Us examine whether the effence of piety be 
in our fentiments, and actions. Let us make this examination 
in regard to God, ourfelves, and our neighbours. Firft, Do you 
love to fuffer for God? Should you believe all his myfteries, your 
facrifice would be imperfect, if your will remained unmodified. 
In vain you follow Jefus Chrift, unlefs you carry the crofs with 
him, in vain you hope for his glory, and kingdom, unlefs you 
partake of his reproaches and fufferings &c. Secondly Are you 
difpofed to die to be united for ever to Chrift ? There is I know 
not what fecret infidelity in our hearts, which ftifies all thefe 
fentiments. Who, to fee the pains we take to render this life 
}ong, and agreeable, who would believe, we expect another per- 
fectly happy, and eternal? The hope of feeing Jefus Chrift, 
that amiable and confolating object, &c. Thirdly, Are we glad 
to be employed in the fervice of God ? That is to fay, do we 
feel a fincere joy, when we pray, and meditate in his prefence f 



( 499 ) 



This manner, well and wifely difpofed, by choo* 
fing proper occafions, will produce (as I have elfe- 
where faid) an excellent effect ; but always remem- 
ber on this rule, that in ufing this method fomething 
fearching, and powerful mult be faid, or it would be 
better let alone. 1 

Prayer is the meafure, of our love, he that loves much, prays 
much, he, that loves little, prays little, he, whofe heart is clofely 
united to God, has no greater confolation than that of enjoying 
the prefence of the object he loves, &c. 4. Are we determined 
to give ourfelves up difmtereftedly to God ? Do we regard the 
care of his providence as our beft refource ? Whence is it, 
that fo many people undertake good works without fuccefs ? It 
is becaufe they undertake them without faith, it is becaufe they 
do not renounce themfelves, &c 

Secondly, Let us examine ourfelves. Firft, is not our zeal im- 
prudence ? 2. Is not our prudence carnal policy r Thirdly, Is 
not our devotion the effect of our humour ? Fourthly, Is not our 
charity amufement, our f riendihips vain and irregular ? 

Thirdly, Let us examine in regard to our neighbour. Firft, 
The foundation of peace with all men is humility, do we hum- 
ble ourfelves to each other ? Secondly, Do we perform any 
good works for one another ? Finally can you fufFer ? If you 
have a lively faith, and ftrong love, the world will blame and 
tempt you, and ifpoffible prevent your enjoying the tranquility 
of the ftate ; friends and enemies will appear in concert to aim 
at the ruin of your pious defigns, the very people, with whom 
you are united to glorify God, will in a manner tempt you, dif- 
ferent humours and prejudices will try you, their defects and 
yours will perpetually jar, unlefs, &c." Oeuvres philof. torn. ii. 
p. 437. edit. Amft. 1 73 1 . 

% Application produces excellent effects. There feem to me three 
efTentials of a good applicatory fermon. — 1, A felecf. lubjedt 
wifely and judicioufly adapted to the ftate of the hearers addref- 
fed. — 2. A temper in the preacher, while he difcuffes it, free 
from anger, and fournefs, and every other bad difpofition, and 
breaking out all along with the difcuffion fo as to free the audi- 
tors from all fufpicion of malice or coliufion, and to overpower 
them with a full perfuafion, that the minifter fmcerely aims to 
promote their felicity. To reprove is to break a bone, or to lay 
I on a blifter, and tender fkill is eflential to the operation, How 
many juft reproofs have loft all their force by the imprudence of 
him, who gave them ! — 3. A conformity of exterior circumltan- 
ces. A certain negligence of drefs, a certain inattention to ftvle 

3 R 2 



( soo ) 



We will exemplify one of the texts, which may 
be difcuffed by way of perpetual application. Let 
us take St. Paul's words to the Philippians, work out 
your own falvation^ with fear and trembling. Be- 
gin with a tender exordium, lamenting the condition 
of mankind, that fo few know the truth; for there 
is almoft an infinite number, to whom it is not 
preached, who are left in the thicken: darknefs; al- 
moft an infinite number, to whom it is preached, 
who corrupt it with errors and fuperftitions, and 
"who almoft never hear it but with a confufed mix- 
ture of falfehoods and human inventions; almoft an 
infinite number of fuch as know it clearly; but yet 

and method, the abfence of every thing tending to divert atten- 
tion,, and the prefence of whatever tends to excite it, are neeef- 
fary on thefe oecafions. 

Bifhop Burnet, fays " Great judgment muft be ufed to make 
applications fall the heavieft, and lie the longeft on fuch parti- 
culars as may be within the compafs of the auditory; directions 
concerning high devotion to a ftupid ignorant company, or of 
generofity and bounty, to a very poor people; againft pride and 
ambition to fuch as are dull and low-minded, are ill-fuited and 
fo muft have little effect on them. — The application muft be 
clear and fhort, very weighty and free of every thing that looks 
like the affectations of wit, and eloquence ; here the preacher 
muft be all heart and foul defigning the good of his people. — 
If he is mafter of eloquence he is to employ it all in giving fome- 
times fuch tender touches as may foften, and deeper gafhes fuch 
as may awaken his hearers — fuch an eloquence as makes the 
hearers look grave, and as it were out of countenance, is the pro- 
pereft. Paft care. chap. 9. 

Adapting the matter to the audience at court in Harry the 
VHIth's days, had like to have conveyed honeft Latimer from 
the pulpit to the tower, but his fimple apology faved him. " I 
have been a very dolt to have preached fo at the borders of your 
realme, as I preache before your grace. I never thought my- 
felf worthy, nor I never fued to be a preacher before your grace, 
but I was called to it, and would be willing if you miflike me 
to give place to my betters; but if your grace allowe me for a 
preacher, I woulde defire your grace, to geve me leave to dis- 
charge my confcience," Latimer's fermons. 



( 501 ) 



negleCt it, and by their negligence preclude , the ad* 
mirable fruits, which it ought to produce. Having 
exprefled aftonifhment that lo few will be faved, and 
finally having ihevved the true caufes, why fo few 
apply to it in the manner they ought, the exordium 
muft be finilhed by an exhortation to profit by this 
time of our calling, and not when we go out of the 
world to have to afk ourfelves what we have been 
doing in it; and to reproaqh ourfelves with having 
abufed the patience and mercy of God. Let us 
now work our falvation with fear^ and trembling, 
&c. This exordium muft be rendered lively and 
agreeable, and executed fo that it may awaken the 
hearer, and obtain a particular attention. * 

This being done, you muft obferve, that, were 
you about to treat of thefe words in the ordinary 
way, you could not fail to make feveral reflections 
on the dodrines. i. On thefe terms your own fal- 
vation y which are very weighty, and of great im- 
portance. — '2. On St Paul's command, that we 
mould work it out^ on which you would have ma- 
ny things to fay, and finally on that fear and trem- 
blings which muft accompany our labour, for many 
important reflections would alfo arife from that — * 
but, you may add; that, laying apart ail doCtrines, 
which very often ferve only for amufement through - 
our levity^ your deiign is to endeavour to enable 
your auditors to do what St Paul commands ; and 
to aflift them actually to labour during this hour d.e- 

* In applicatory fermons, you fhould endeavour to obtain a 
particular attention. Here, if any where, the preacher fhould 
addrefs the eyes, and ears of his auditors, as well as their rea- 
fon; for to hear truths, which dire&ly addrefs the paflions, de- 
livered in a cold, lifelefs, unaffected manner, is enough to make 
a man mad. 



( 502 ) 



Voted to piety to work out their own falvation with 
that Jear and trembling, which fo great a work de- 
mands. * 

Here, becaufe the fubje£t is pra&ical, and one 
would wifli to open all avenues to confcience, and 
effectually to move the hearer, it would not be 
improper (after making a kind of divifion into 
three parts, the firft of which fhould be fome con- 
fiderations on our own falvation. Secondly, the a£ts 
by which we work it out. And laftly the fear and 
trembling, with which thefe a£ts are accompanied,) 
to put up a fliort prayer to God in form of a wifh, 
brief, but lively, that it may pleafe him to blefs 
this fermon, and to give us all neceflary power to e- 
liable us to fet about the work of our falvation, that 
at may be much forwarded, before we go out of the 
aflembly. t 

* Enable your auditors to work out their own falvation. This 
way of preaching has of late been almoft totally laid afide by 
many pious men, under a miftaken notion of its incongruity 
with the dotlrine of decrees. I will not venture to fay, it is 
confiftent with their notions of the decrees but I truft I may 
be allowed to fay without offence, it is perfectly agreeable to 
the fcripture do£hine of decrees, for this plain reafon; the fame 
fcripture which teaches the one, exemplifies the other; and he, 
who from all eternity fore-faw, and fore-ordained (which when 
we fpeak of God is the fame thing,) what would be the end 
of all things, formally declares, that, " as he lives, he defireth 
not the death of a finner: but had rather that he mould turn and 
live." For this purpofe he orders hisfminifters to bid to the mar- 
riage a as many as they find and even compel them to come in, 
that his houfe may be filled." It would become minifters to do 
all his commands without murmuring and without difputing, to 
leave to God the harmonizing of his word, as well as of his works 
of nature, and moral government : and if any objector demand 
confiftency, to fay, " I know the MefTias cometh, who is called 
Chrift, and when he comes he will tell us all things." 

f It is not improper to put up a fhort prayer to God. Some 
preachers do this conftantly, others only on particular occafions, 
Foreign preachers afford many beautiful patterns. 



( 503 ) 

After this preparation, the firft thing you may 
fay, which I befeech you to meditate on, is, that 
God has had fo much compaffion for us as to prepare 
a falvation. We were his enemies, and he has mer- 
cifully propofed reconciliation We w r ere dead, and 
he has prepared a refurredtion for us. We were 
plunged into an abyfs of mifery, and he has kindly 
ftretched out his hand from on high to help us. Sal- 
vation confifts in benefits inexpreffible, of immenfe 
value, which we cannot fufficiently efteem; for they 
muft be proportioned to the worth of the blood of 
Jefus Chrift who merited them. This blood, which 
has acquired them for us, is of all things in the 
world the raoft facred and valuable, and yet the 
moll mournful and effecting. Enter then, I entreat 
you, with me into this meditation. Whence is it, 
we take fo little pains about that, which is fo very 
important to us? Salvation prefents itfelf every day 
to us as a rich treafure, coming from the bofom of 
eternal mercy, as the divine and incomparable pro-, 
duction of the bloody death of the Son of God. It 
is a veffel, which prefents itfelf to us in this fad fhip- 
wreck, that we have made. Yet we do not think about 
it, and when we reflect on the little attention, that 
we have hitherto paid to the voice of God, who 
hath fo often fpoken to us, we are aftoniihed to find 
ourfelves under fuch extreme ftupidity *. 

* Our author difcovers great ability in difcuffing this fub- 
|l je£t in the applicatory method. It is extremely delicate and 
■ ! difficult. — i. He makes a judicious choice^of topics, all true, in- 
difputable and of allowed importance. — 2. He felects that part 
of each topic, which is beft adapted to his purpofe, not aiming 
to fay all that could be faid: but only what fuited his prefent 
particular view.— 3. He makes each article project into a ftri- 
king point of view by contraft. — 4. He fupplies and foftens the 
auditor by a tender mode of expreffion.-— In all he appears a 



( £ol< ) 

That we may the better perceive the importance 
of this falvation, and the neceffity of attaching our- 
felves to it, methinks, we need only turn our eyes a 
little to the miferable ftate of thofe, who neglect it 
during the whole courie of their lives, and at length 
go out of the world without having at all employed 
themfelves about it. Behold ! I befeech you, what 
a great number of unbelieving and profane finners 
there are in the world ! Would you choofe to be of 
their number ? One is a giddy young creature, 
whofe head is full of nothing but pranks, and mis- 
takes. Another is an old mifer, who has filled his 
houfe with extortions and iniquities. A third k 
a proud and cruel wretch, who delights and glories 
in violence and blood like a wild beaft. A fourth 
is a fly hypocrite, who never appears in the world un- 
mafked, who never goes out but to fet fnares, nor e- 
ver ftirs but to deceive the fimple, a notorious impof- 
ior, who thinks only how he may impofe on the 
whole world. Another is a filthy epicure, always 
drowned in wine, or immerfed in fenfual pleafures, a 

mailer of aflemblies fattening nails in a fure place. I allude to 
Eccl. xii. i i, 

Firil, The topic here is falvation, the important wifh of every 
human foul. 

Secondly, Salvation is confidered as fpringing from mercy ^ 
— flowing through mediatorial blood— and bringing along with 
it an ocean of rich benefits ; parts only of the topic : but parts 
highly adapted to touch the heart. 

Thirdly, the mercy of God is contrafted with our mifery— 
the agonies of Chrift fet againft our infenfibility — the benefits 
propofed ?gainft damage, danger, and death. All this is heighten 
ed with the beautiful image of a fhipwrecked mariner inatten- 
tive to a friendly vefTel coming on purpofe to fave him, a vefTel 
freighted with treafures for him infinitely exceeding ! all he had loft. 

Fourthly, All is foftened with melting phrafe — Meditate, 
I befeech you— God mercifully propofes falvation — he kindly 
j^retcheth out his hand— Salvation comes from the bofom of 
mercy, &c. &c< 



( 505 ) 



fwine whofe foul is buried in flefh, and who thinks 
of nothing but how to invent new pleafures. | 

How many abyfTes has vice opened to ingulph 
mankind ! Into how many fhapes does it transform 
itfelf to furprize and deftroy them ! Sometimes it ap - 
pears under the beautiful vail of riches and grandeurs , 
fometimes under the agreeable charms of fenfual plea- 
fures, fometimes under the juftice of fupporting one's 
own interefts and fatiating a juft revenge, fometimes 
under the reafons we have to envy another's profpe- 
rity, fometimes under the idea of the joy of fucceed- 
ing in a lawful enterprize, or under an idea of the 
fhame of not fucceeding in what we have underta- 
ken. In fhort, fin is a Proteus changing itfelf into a 
thoufand fhapes, or, if you will; a lerpent twirling 

$ A proud and cruel man — is a wild bead — an epicure — is a 
fwine. Our authors aim is to excite hatred of fin, pride intem- 
perance, andfoon. To do this, laying afide a falfe finical delicacy, 
he expofes vice to view under difagreeable images. Scripture 
and profane writers exemplify the method. In general, we may 
previoufly obferve, on the one hand, that purity and fimplicity 
of manners are generally accompanied with a blunt, rough rank 
fpeech j and, on the other, that depravity of manners generally 
hides itfelf under an afFe&ed refinement and delicacy of ftyle* 
The old prophets fpoke bluntly : but they were very holy. Mo- 
dem courtiers fpeak refinedly : but they are behind the curtain 
extremely vicious. Here and there indeed a bold libertine is an 
exception to this rule. 

S. Jude calls the wicked brute beafts, verfe 10. 2 Pet. Ii. 12* 
— S. Peter refembles a backflider to a dog turning again to his 
own vomit ; a fow that was warned wallowing in the mire. 2 
Pet. ii. 22. — The Lord likens the lukewarm to an emetic, and 
fays, I will fpue thee out of my mouth. Rev. iii. 16.— The 
prophet likens the Jews to a brazen, fcolding, proftitute, a mere 
billingfgate, Thou doll the work of an imperious whorifh wo- 
man. Ezek. xvi. 30. — He compares national fubfidies to the 
I gifts of a rake to his miltrefs, verfe 33. — All nafty images ex- 
preflive of a filthy people, whofe vices rendered them objects of 
general abhorrence. 

as 



{ 506 ) 



itfelf a thoufand ways to Aide into men's hearts, in 
order to prevent their thinking about their falvation.* 
Moreover, if you caft your eyes on this part of 
the world, which appears the moft civilized and re- 
fined, you will fee people fo immerfed in an almoft 
infinite number of occupations perpetually employ- 
ing them, that there does not remain a moment to 
think of the moft important matters. Some are 
wrapt up in the ftudy of human fciences, and 
others in worldly employments. Each gives himfelf 
up entirely, and none remembers that piety and the 
fear of God ought to be a profeffion common to 
them all. Piety does not hinder lawful employ- 
ments : but it reftrains them within proper bounds, 
that itfelf may not be hindered by them. J 

* Sin difgulfes and varies itfelf. Man cannot, it is allowedj 
purfue evil under the idea of evil : He purfues it under the no~ 
tion of good. Hence deception is elTential to the empire of fin. 
This is carried on various ways — as by giving vices the names of 
virtues — by propofing fmful purfuits partially, &c. &c. It is 
glorious to religion to require nothing but expofure to recom- 
mend it. 

% Piety does not hinder lawful employments. This article mould 
be thoroughly inculcated among young people under fir ft reli- 
gious impreffions. When the light of religion firft breaks in 
upon a benighted foul, it difcovers fo many great and glorious 
objects, that a little human mind is apt to be abforbed in them. 
It is the fame under great diftrefs, and in high enjoyments.-— 
My heart is fmitten fo, that I forget to eat my bread. Pfal. cii, 
4, — The difciples had forgotten to take bread. Mat. xvi. 5, 
The woman left her water-pot, and went her way. John iv. 28, 
■ — He, that was healed, wift not who it was. John v. j 3 — Jofeph 
and his mother knew not of it. Luke ii. 43. — I, Daniel, was 
mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleafant bread, &c. Dan, 
x. 23. 

Young people mould be exhorted t£> excel in their feveral pro- 
fessions, religion is honoured by it, and an old calumny is wi- 
ped off, Pharaoh faid, Ye are idle, ye are idle, therefore ye fay, 
Let us go and do facrifice to the Lord. Exod. v. 17.— The king 
faid, Ye, Mofes and Aaron, hinder the people from ther works, 
v. 4; S. Paul exhorts to what we recommend, Titus iii. 8, 14, 



( 507 ) 



To thefe confiderations you may add another^ 
which more immediately regards good people, that 
is, the fmall number of believers,, who in a manner 
are feparated from the world to ferve God. It is 
certain, that, at what diftance foever we are removed 
from the world, and it's vanities; we have yet too 
much communication with worldly things, on which 
account we fhould look upon our falvation as in per- 
petual danger of being torn from us. We are, I 
grant, feparated from the worldly by the profeflion 
of the gofpel ; but do we not yet live in a com- 
merce with them in civil life ? and are we not con- 
fequently always expofed to the influence of their 
bad examples, and to the falfe fhame of feeing our- 
felves oppofite in fentiments, maxims, and cuftoms 
to the reft of mankind ? are we not expofed to the 
flattering baits of their promifes, the violence of their 
threatnings, the delufion of their fophifms and arti- 
fices, and in one word to an infinite number of temp- 
tations arifing from them ? J 

For this reafon fome of us preach lectures in villages on week- 
days at five in the morning, before poor people go to work, and 
at feven in the evening, after they have done, and induftrious 
people find leifure to attend them : hut unlefs they excel in bu« 
finefs all day, we cannot bid flanderers defiance. 

J We are in danger from worldly connexions. Cafuifts will 
diftinguifh thofe connections with bad men, which are necefiary, 
from others, which are arbitrary, depending folely on the will 
of the chrift ian. Of the firft fort are, I • All natural connections 
with parents, brethren, fiflers, children, and foon. 2. All ci** 
vil connections for government, trade, literature, and fo on. 
Thefe connections are not finful : but they may be productive 
of much fin through our imprudence. Arbitrary connections 
are finful in themfelves, they lie out of the path of duty, and 
they generally produce great mifery and fcandal. S. Paul pre- 
ferred the company of a bad man, who did not profefs to be re- 
ligious, before that of a loofe living profeflbr of chriftianity. I 
wrote unto you not to company with fornicators. Yet not al- 
together with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous*, 

3 S 2 



( 508 ) 



Were we, through thefe temptations, prevailed on 
to lay afide the work of our falvation for a time, or 
to labour but negligently at it, our lofs would be in- 
evitable. You cannot but fee how neceffary it is ne- 
ver to difcontinue the work we have undertaken, 
never to relax, but rather to hold fajl what we have 
received till the "Lord comes. Salvation can never be 
obtained unlefs we ftrive againft the ftream of the 
world, We mud not only make fome efforts ; but 
we muft make them perpetually ; for if we fufpend 
or diminiih our efforts ever fo little, it will be im- 
poffible for us not to be carried away. Sin will 
gain ground by the leaft negligence, and confiderably 
remove us from the end we propofe. It is not in 
this fpiritual work as it is in temporal concerns ; 
we may lay afide the latter for a time without fuffer- 
ing any damage : but as to our falvation, it is cer- 
tain, the leaft interruption is capable of retarding it* 
and two days of fufpenfion will ruin more than a 
thoufand well-fpent days can advance. % 

or extortioners, or with idolaters ; for then muft ye needs go 
out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to 
keep company, if any man, that is called a brother, be a forni- 
cator, &c* i Cor.v. 9, 10, 11. 

% Salvation requires continual efforts. Our Lord's language is 
very remarkable, Luke xiii. 24. Strive to enter in at the ftrait 
gate, agonizesthe. Erafmus renders it Laborate— Vatablus 
lias it Certate — Lucas Brugenfis paraphrafes it, Enitimim omni- 
bus viribus. The word is certainly very expreffive, equal to our 
Englifh phrafe {train every nerve, or, without a figure, earneftly 
employ all your powers to obtain eternal happinefs. 

Our divines generally make two practical remarks on thefe 
Words. 1. The words are an anfwer to a queftion. One faid, 
Lord, are there few, that be faved ? To this curious ufelefs 
queftion the Lord replies, Strive to enter, and fo on , as if he 
had faid, Do not inquire concerning abftrufe and ufelefs fubjecls: 
but employ your time and attention to fecure your own falvation. 
2. The words prove, that, be the fecret purpofe of God what 
It may, there is nothing in it to exxufe indolence, or to difcou^ 



( 509 ) 



After all, fay you, what intereft have we in this 
falvation ? and why mull we quit all things to apply 
ourfelves to this with fo much diligence, and earneft- 
nefs ? My brethren, to judge rightly of the intereft 
you have in it, I intreat you to confider fome few 
truths, which are not unknown to you, although per- 
haps they have never made all the impreflion on you, 
which they ought to have made. Remember, then, 
you muft die, this neceffity is impofed on us all, in fo 
inviolable a manner, that no man can poffibly exempt 
himfelf. Remember, God has hid from you, under 
an impenetrable vail the hour of your death, and all 
that you can know is, that your life will be fhort, 
and that there does not pafs one fingle moment, in 
which your death may not happen. You are always 
in danger, and always liable to fome dreadful acci- 
dent. Remember, immediately after your death, you 
muft be obliged to appear and anfwer for the deeds 
done in the body before the tribunal of God ; for, as 
God is the governor of the univerfe, and you are 
not only one of his creatures, but one of his reafon- 
able creatures, for whom he has made laws, and pre- 
fcribed the bounds and meafures of their duty, he 
muft neceffarily be your judge, * 

rage diligence. Do you aflc, Are there few that be faved ? I 
have faid, ftrait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which lead- 
eth unto life, and few there be that find it, Mat. vii. 14. but there 
is nothing in this doctrine inconfiftent with ftriving : on the con= 
trary, it enforces the utmoft diligence. 

The fcripture ufeth a great number of ftrong, fignificant 
terms, fully expreffive of the greateft atention. Strive— labour 
■ — run— wreftle— fight — give diligence to make your calling and 
election fure. 2. Pet. i. 10. 

* Remember you muji die, Saurin fomewhere fays, he chofe 
to introduce death into every fermon, as that fubj eel;, which was 
belt adapted to affed the hearers, and to render them tenacious 
of religious impreflio^s. Moft of our mailers in Ifrael do fo, 



( 510 ) 



As, then, death is inevitable, fo Is judgment, but 
alas! what judgment ! a judgment lo terrible that S. 
Peter reafons in this manner, If the righteous fcarcely 
be faved where Jhall the wicked and ungodly appear '? 
* A judgment fo dreadful, that finners w ill cry to 
the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us, 
hide us from the face of the lamb, for the day of his 
wrath is come. A judgment fo exact that all our 
thoughts and all our words, all the principles and e- 

efpecially in their applications, and good effects are generally 
produced. It is not impoflible, however, that this fubjecr may 
be familiarized till it has no force. Sicknefs and death do not 
appear to phyficians and foldiers as they do to other men, whole 
profeffions never throw them in the way of the dying or the dead. 
On this, then, as well as on a thoufand other articles, prudence 
muft guide the preacher ; uuifdom is profitable to direbl. Eccl. x» 
ic. Our author's tranfition from death to judgment is natural 
and beautiful, and his choice of thefe plain, eafy articles in an qp~ 
plicatory difcourfe is agreeable to the nature of it ; for here the 
preacher mould fele£t, clear, allowed truths, which require little 
or no exercife of judgment in the auditor. The heart is to be 
imprefled, and the mind muft be relieved from fufpenfe, and en~ 
gaged by evidence to affect the heart. 

* If the righteous fcarcely be faved. I Pet. iv- 1 8. Our author 
very properly applies this pailage to a future ftate, at the happi- 
nefs of which the righteous arrive with difficulty, through the 
various afflictions, perfecutions, and temptations, that lie in the 
way : but the words feem literally to belong to the then prefent 
ftate of the church, when S. Peter wrote. We fubmit the four 
following reafons to confideration. i. The epiftle was written 
before the deftruction of Jeruialem, and the writer adverts much 
to that expected event. 2. The preceding verfe fays, " the time 
is come that judgment muft begin at the houfe of God," that is 
to fay, national calamities muft overwhelm us along with our 
country-men, the Jews. 3. The text is a quotation from the 
feptuagint verfion of Prov. xi. 31. " Behold, the righteous fhall 
be recompenfed in the earth, much more the wicked and the 
linners." S. Peter's fcarcely faved is fynonimous to the wife man's 
recompenfed in the earth. 4. The following verfe recommends 
patience under prefent fufferings. Our author's application of 
the pafiage to final judgment is rational ; for, if prefent afflictions 
try the righteous and terrify the wicked, what muft the final 
judgment do ? 



{ 511 ) 



motions of our conferences, all the fecrets of our 
hearts, our connexions, ways, ends, artifices; crimes, 
in general all that belong to us mall be difcovered be- 
fore the eyes, and under the hands of our judge, nor 
can any thing efcape the light of his eyes, or the trial 
of his wifdom and equity. Above all, remember, 
this judgment muft needs be followed with eternal 
life, or eternal death, with perfect falvation or dam- 
nation. There is no medium between thefe things, 
heaven and hell will then divide the world, and they 
who have not the happinefs of hearing this comfort- 
able voice, Come ye blejjed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you, will receive this dreadful 
fentence, Depart ye curfed into everlajling fire prepa- 
red for the devil and his angels. This judgment is 
fo certain, that the Lord, not content only to declare 
it in his word, gives us fome forebodings of it in our 
confeiences. What believer does not feel every day 
a tribunal of God prepared in his heart ? who does 
not hear this fecret voice demanding an account of 
his actions, making inquiry into the ufe he has made 
of benefits received, of the obedience he has rendered 
to the law, the fruit he has yielded to the gofpel, the 
improvement of opportunities, and, in one word, of 
the virtues he has pra&ifed, or the fins he has com- 
mitted ? who is that finner, however infenfible, who 
does not frequently feel in his heart fome pre-fenti- 
ments of this judgment ? Do not all the fears and ter- 
rors, the inquietudes, and remorfes, which ufually 
agitate wicked men, come from hence ? We have 
every one of us thefe prelibations throughout life : 
but they become incomparably llronger at the ap- 
proach of death. Then man feels the hand, the 
mighty hand of the omnipotent God drawing him to 
himfelf, Then is he feized and forced in fpite of him- 



( 512 ) 



felf before the throne of the fovereign judge of the 
world. In thefe laft moments of life, as the eyes of 
the body are darkened, thofe of the mind are en- 
lightened, and, penetrating into the fecrets of the 
world to come, difcover the good or evil confequences^ 
which we muft expect. What dreadful blindnefs is 
it then, that, with lo much certainty, fo many marks, 
fo many outward and inward teftimonies of this di- 
vine judgment, we fliould yet neglecT: to prepare for 
it, and leave an article, fo capital on which eternity 
depends, to hazard. * 

One of the moft ufeful and admirable powers^ 
which nature has bellowed upon man, and which 
follows reafon,and diftinguifhes man from other ani- 
mals, is prudence, a fagacity refpe&ing future things* 
Beafts, which have not received this advantage from 

# Conftder judgment. The force and the beauty of this branch 
of our author's application lie in the properties of the fubje£t. A 
judgment fo terrible — a judgment fo exabl — a judgment fo certain 
—a judgment inevitable — a judgment that ijfues in eternal hap- 
pinefs or mifery, this is the fubje£t, and thefe the properties of it s 
which the wifdom of God ufes to alarm and affect a finner. How 
highly fitted to anfwer the end ! 

That incomparable fermon of Mafiillon, entitled the death of the 
righteous and the wicked, is all made up of thefe plain, affecting 
articles. I could never read his defcription of the wicked man's 
lajl moment's without a mixture of pity and fear. The paffage 
begins with " Alors le pecheur mourant" and ends thus. (i At 
length, amidft thefe diftrefsful efforts, his eyes fix— his features 
alter— his countenance is disfigured— his livid mouth falls open 
of itfelf — his whole frame trembles— and, by a final ft niggle, 
his unhappy foul Harts with reluctance from its habitation of 
clay, falls into the hands of God, and finds itfelf naked at the 
bar of his formidable tribunal." 

Thus, my brethren, do they die, who forget God through 
life! Thus will you die, if your fins accompany you to your 
death. Every object around you will change, you alone will re- 
main the fame — you will die : and you will die wicked, as you 

have lived; your death will refemble your life O preclude 

this mifery by living the life of the righteous." Serm, Avent* 



( 513 ) 



the hand of nature, only ad and difplay their feeble 
fenfes about prefent things ; they walk the way, 
that offers to their eyes, they eat the herb, which 
they fee, and only move as tfiey are enticed by the 
objects, at which they look ; but, as they have no 
knowledge of futurity, they are at perfect reft. It is 
quite other wife with man, his reafon anticipates 
years, and ages, he fees things long before they arrive, 
he knows them by a concatenation of their caufes 
and effects, and at the fame time provides to forward 
or to fruftrate them. * By this prudential forefight 
kingdoms and empires fupport themfelves, by this 
cities and families are preferved, and by this all men 
endeavour, each as far as it is in his power, to pro- 
cure a comfortable condition in this life, -f- How 

ji . ' . '' ■• •-; >•'•■ ■' j -v. , . <:,t*J.i(:;p _ 

,i '\:, ; >-; > v : ,• . ijL .'■ «/ ■■' • - ' : '-l' ! : ,r. .'; •■ 

* BeaQs have no knowledge of 'futurity. This argument for the 

immortality of the human foul is prettily urged in the following 

lines; 

Deep in rich pafture, will thy flocks complain ? 
Not fo ; but to their mailer is dany'd 
To fh are their f wee t ferene. Man, ill at eafe, 
In this, not his own own place, this foreign field.. 
Where nature fodders him with other food, 
Than was ordain'd his cravings to fuffice, 
Poor in abundance, famiftVd at a feaft, 
Sighs on for fomething more, when mod enjoy'd. 
Is heaven then kinder to thy flocks, than thee ? 
Not fo ; thy pafture richer, but remote 5 
In part, remote ; for that remoter part 
Man bleats from inftincl, tho' perhaps, debauch'd 
By fenfe, his reafon (heps, nor dreams the caufe. 
The caufe how obvious, when his reafon wakes ! 
His grief is but his grandeur in difguife ; 
And difcontent is immortality. 

$fight Thoughts, N. 7» 

f By prudent forefight cities and empires are preferved. There are 
two general caufes of the prefervation of ftates, the firft are inter* 
rial, and fubfift in the ftates themfelves ; thefe may be forefeen : 
but the laft, external caufes, cannot be forefeen, becaufe they de* 

3 T 



( £H ) 



then comes it to pafs, that, while we employ our pru- 
dence fo ufefully about temporal things, we are all 
on a fudden deprived of it, when we mould be 
concerned about the mo ft important of all future 
things, falvation or damnation ? is it not for this 
reafon, that St. Paul, fpeakingof worldly men, calls 
them animals ? The animal man^fays he, recelveth 
not the things of the fpirit of God. As if he had faid 9 
This man, who for the world teftifies that he is truly 
man, who has fo much induftry, vivacity, and pe- 
netration for futurity, and fo much folidity of judg- 
ment in the choice of ways and means, is yet a 
brute heart, a fimple animal without reafon and with- 
out intelligence, when the affair of his falvation is in 
queftion. Let us not be of this number, my brethren, 
let us not fleep like the foolifh virgins, while we wait 
for the bride-groom. Jefus Chrift is made unto us 
w if d om) and this wifdom confifts in always having 
the eyes open, and the mind concerned and adtive 
about what muft follow this life, and the means, by 
which we may attain eternal felicity. * 

pend on an infinite variety of circumftances. The three forts 
of government, monarchy, ariftocracy, and democracy have o- 
thers, which refemble them, and into which they often degene- 
rate, and fo diflblve themfelves. Monarchy may run into defpo- 
tifm, ariitocracy into oligarchy, and democracy into anarchy* 
Thofe governments which have the ftrongeft conftitutional checks 
againft degeneracy, are belt calculated to perpetuate themfelves, 
and the operation of thefe checks may be forefeen, and foretold. 
On thefe principles Polybius, and others, fortold the fate of Rome, 
and other ftates. 

On principles fomewhat fimiliar wife men forefeeand foretell 
the fate of individuals. Thus Hedfcor foretold the death of A~ 
chilles, and Patroclus that of He&or. {Horn. 1L xvi. 852. xxih 
358.) Thefe, and other fuch inllances of human fagacity, muft 
not be confounded with a fpirit of prophecy. 

# Jefus Chrift is made unto us wifdom. 1 Cor. i. 30. The fcope 
of this place determines the meaning of S. Paul in thefe words. 
In this chapter the apoftle contemplates three objects — the Jewifk 



( 515 ) 

I cannot help obferving here two illufions,. to 
which the greateft part of mankind are fubje&. 
Firft, we almoft always imagine, our falvation is a 
very eafy thing, which requires but very little time. 
One moment, lay we, is iufficient for converfion^ 
and a true converiion though wrought in a moment 
is fufEcient to lave us. Belide the time of calling is 
long, it endures till death. This is as much as to lay, 
that, when we have employed the beft part of our 
days in our pleasures and finful interefts, we mall 
have time enough to repent and be faved. Never 
was any thing more falfe or deceitful than this idea of 
falvation. I grant, there needs only a good and fin- 
cere converfion in order to falvation. Provided it be 
good and fincere it cannot fail of being effectual. I 
own farther, that a true and fincere converfion at 
the laft hour of life is not altogether unexampled. 
God mews us now and then one, to make us admire 
the marvels of his grace, and the depths of his elec- 
ting love : but, granting all this, I beg you alfo to re- 
mark the following truths. Firft, True and fincere 
converfions in the laft moments of life are fo rare^ 
that God has left us but one example in all fcripture; 
and even that example is fingular in its circumftances, 
it is that of the converted thief. But, befides that 
nothing lefs than a crofs, that is, a moft infamous and 
cruel death, was neceflary to afted: him, there was 

religion — that of moral philofophy of the pagans — and the go- 
fpel, or that body of fcience, which was taught by Jefus Chrilt. 
He allows the gofpel appeared fcandalous to fome Jews, and ri- 
diculous to fome Greeks, yet to others, both Jews and Greeks^ it 
feemed the power and the wifdom of God. The apoftle tries the 
caufe in difpute, pronounces in favour of the gofpel, and adduces 
effe&s for proofs. The gofpel of Chrift is become to us both a 
fyftem of knowledge and a fource of holinefs. Chyifi is made un- 
to us wifdom, righteoujnefs, holinefs , and redemption. 



( 516 ) 



need alio, to work this great miracle, the dying pre- 
fence of the eternal fon of God. It was in that grand 
action, in which our redeemer offered his eternal 
facrifice for the whole world ; in that a&ion in which 
he caufed the fmoke of his oblation to afcend as it 
were from earth to heaven, in a fweet-fmelling fa- 
vour to God the father; in that action, in which the 
fun was eclipfed, the earth trembled, the graves 
opened, the vail of the temple was rent in twain; it 
was, I fay, very juft that the Saviour s blood mould 
work fuch a miracle, and that the fpirit of grace, to 
honour the death of the eternal fon of God, mould 
difplay his power in an extraordinary manner: but 
let no one imagine from this example, that it mall be 
fo with him. Jefus Chrift does not die every day, 
his blood was fhed but once, and who told you that 
what he did in the act of his facrifice, he will repeat 
again every day ? * 

# The example of the thief on the crcfs. The converfion of the 
thief on the crofs is a credible hiftorical fact : but, before we can 
apply this to the condition of any other perfon, we mull afcer- 
tain the true nature of the fact, and from correfponding circum- 
ftances prove it a cafe in point. Now this is extremely difficult 
to do. Monfieur Tellemont has collected many various opinions 
concerning the penitent thief : but all conjectures not fupported 
by holy fcripture are uncertain. Saurin ftates thefe hiftorical 
conjectures, endeavours to prove that the two thieves were no- 
torious criminals, who deferved to die, allows and demon!! rates 
the truth of the converfion of one, and takes particular care to 
evince that nothing can be deducted from this man's converfion 
in favour of procraitinating. 

" If any tiling (fays he) feem to invalidate what we have fo 
often preached againft the delay of your converfion, it is the 
example of the penitent thief. This is the intrenchment, from 
which the moft oblfinate finners defy us to force them. I will 
tell you, my brethren, what there is comfortable in this example 
on your death-beds, mould providence caufe me to furvive and 
attend any of you : but, while you are well, in this pulpit, to 
men, who take advantage of every thing to fortify themfelves in 
corruption, it would be needlefs to attempt to prevent the devil's 



t 517 ) 



2. Converfion in the laft hour is the raoft difficult 
thing in the world, the foul is as it were exhaufted, 
without power, without light, without vigour ; the 
heart is bound by a thoufand old habits, long ago 
contracted, and which like fo many chains prevent 
a freedom of adtion. The conference has long been 
in a profound lethargy, all the doors of the foul are 
fhut againft ideas of piety, and thefe ideas like ftran- 
gers know none of the avenues to the heart. In fhort 
the whole man is fo funk in ftupidity, and fo incor- 
porated with the world (if I may venture to fay fo) 
that the world is as it were converted into his own 
fubftance, and become effential to him. By what 
means then mail a man be brought out of fuch a 
miferable ftate ? By what means then can he be de- 
tached from all the relations and connections, which 
he has formed with the world and its vanities? I 
know, God can do it, for nothing is impoflible to 
him : but for this purppfe there muit be an extraordi- 
nary fund of grace, a Angular effort of the omnipo- 
tence of God. If the Lord laid, it was eafier for a 
camel to go through a needle s eye than for a rich 
man to enter the kingdom of heaven : how much 
more may we fay fo of an old rich man, of an old 
fmner, who has added to the obftacle of his riches 
thoufands of vices and crimes. * 

ufing the example of the wicked thief to hinder your labouring 
after converfion, becaufe you have deferred it fo long, we mule 
endeavour now to prevent his ufing that of the good thief to en- 
gage you to defer the work ftil] longer." Ser. fur les deux Bri- 
gands-, torn, i.fer. xi. 

* Converfion is difficult in a dying illnefs. Saurin adopts Mr- 
Claude's juft and neceffary diftin&ion on this fubject and ex- 
patiates beautifully on it. He affirms, there is an ordinary, and 
there is an extraordinary way of converting a foul. The fir ft is 
a rule to us: the laft is always open to God, and his wifdom 
determines when to make ufe of it. " God has eftablifhed laws 



( 518 ) 



3« I am not afraid to fay, that the fin of thofe who 
defer their repentance, is of fo aggravated a nature, 
that it renders them altogether unworthy of God's 
extraordinary aid to convert them. Such people are 
crafty deceivers, who acl: fraudulently with God, and 
pretend to dupe him with their artifices ; for they do 
as much as fay, God calls us, and we acknowledge, 
repentance is juft and necefiary, if we mean to be 
faved ; but in order to this we mult quit our plea- 

in nature with the utmoft wifdom,he has afiigned a pavilion for 
the fun, fixed the earth upon pillars, and fet bounds to the fea : 
yet fometimes he has been pleafed to pafs thefe laws, to ihake 
the earth, to ftop the fun, to divide the fea, and has difccvered 
as much wifdom in violating the laws of nature as in eftablifhing 
them. In like manner, religion has its laws, which wifely efta- 
blifh God's ufual way of working : yet fometimes he has been 
pleafed to difpenfe with thefe laws and extend their limits. In- 
ftead therefore of judging of the general laws of religion by 
particular examples, you ought to govern your ideas of parti- 
cular examples by thefe general laws. Complaifant directors ! 
Remifs cafuifts f Public pells ! who amufe your penitents with 
deceitful hopes ; when a phyfician has exhaufted all the fecrets 
of his art to reftore the health of his patient, and fees they are 
unfuccefsful, when every fymptom of over- loaded nature pu- 
bliflies the approach of death, he fays, the cafe of his patient is 
defperate, he does not pretend, God cannot heal him, he does 
not even pretend to fay, he has never feen a recovery in fuch a 
cafe, he fpeaks according to the ordinary courfe of nature, ac- 
cording to the maxims of his art, he fpeaks as a phyfician, not 
as a wonderworker. In like manner, when we fee a man, who 
hasperfifted thirty, forty, fifty years in criminal habits, when we 
fee fuch a man taken ill and defpairing of life, weep, figh, pray, 
and pretend to converhon, we fay, his ftate is fufpicious, and in- 
finitely fufpicious : but we fpeak according to the ordinary laws 
of religion, and do not mean to exclude miracles, we know, 
God is almighty &c." Sur le renvoi de converfion y torn. ii. 

This diftinction is neceflary to the underftanding of many 
paiTages of fcripture — to the difcuffion of many hiltorical facts 
— and to the elucidation of many cafes of. confcience — all which 
may become fources of innumerable errors and vices, unlefs 
diftinctions be made between ordinary arid extraordinary — judi- 
cial and extrajudicial — intrinfic and extraneous. It is needlefs 
to give inftances of each : they will occur to the leaft attention. 



( 519 ) 



fures. What then {hall we do to enjoy our delight* 
ful fins and yet avoid damnation ? This is the way, 
we will be wifer than God ; we will employ all our 
befl days in debaucheries and fins, and fo content 
ourfelves with them ; and when we are no longer 
good for any thing, we will be converted, and fo 
prevent our damnation. Do you think, a reafoning 
lb horrible, a procedure fo deteftable can be agreeable 
to God ? Do you think it will extremely invite him 
to beftow extraordinary converting gf ace on fuch af- 
fronting wretches ? No furely ! What! becaufe God 
is free in the difpenfation of his grace, is there any 
likelihood that he will beftow it to eftablifh and re- 
ward deceit ? * 

Confider, I intreat you, there cannot be a more 
foolifh and rafti defign than that of putting off re- 
pentance to old age, fince it takes for granted the 
moll doubtful and uncertain thing in the world, 
which is that we mall live to a hoary old age. Is 
not this the grofleft of all illufions ? I omit urging 
what all the world knows, that no one can afllire 
himfelf of the morrow. I fay to you fomething more 
ftriking. Make the different orders of men pafs be- 
fore your eyes, count them one by one, and it is 

* Will God bejiow extraordinary grace to reward deceit ! Thus 
amplified by Saurin. " Strange reafoning ! deteftable fophifm, 
my brethren ! this is the higheft pitch of corruption ! this is in- 
gratitude of a fupremeMegree ! how ungrateful foever fome 
people are, the worft fhewa little fenfibility in the inftant of re- 
ceiving favours ; when they have forgotten them, indeed, they 
may become ungrateful: but behold ! in this finner's reafoning 
a new kind of outrage, a wicked art of inclofing within the cir- 
cumference of his ingratitude the prefentand the future, favours 
received, and favours expected ! In the perpetration of every 
crime I {hall remind myfelf of mercy one day to be bellowed, 
and mall find in this idea a motive for firmnefs in rebellion, and 
boldnefs in fin. Is not this an excefs of corruption ? This is 
the moft deteftable ingratitude ! &cV' Sauu renvoi > tem.iu 



( 520 ) 



certain, the number of thofe, who die before they 
are thirty years of age, is incomparably greater than 
of thoie, who come to that age. How many die 
between thirty and forty ! how few^ arrive at fifty ! 
fewer ftill live to fixty, and how very fmall in all 
ages and countries is the number of old men ? In a 
city, which contains a million of fouls, you will find 
two, or perhaps three thoufand old people, that is, 
in the proportion of two or three hundred to every 
hundred thoufand fouls. * Now, allowing this, what 
foolifh fecurity is it to imagine you mail be in the 
happy number of thefe two or three hundred, in a 
multitude of a hundred thoufand ! Were a man to 
hazard his fortune on fuch an uncertainty he would 
pafs in the world for a madman, and all his relations 
and friends, his wife and children would pity and 
confine him : but thou ! miferable wretch | doft thou 

* The vitality of old people is in the proportion of two or three hun~ 
dred to every hundred thou/and. This obfervation is not ftrictly 
theological : but it is pertinently introduced here, and may ferve 
for an example of what our Dr Gill recommended in an ordi- 
nation fermon from " 2 Tim. ii. 7. Confider what I fay \ and 
the Lord give thee underftanding in all things." Confider prin- 
cipally revealed truths : but, as all fciences may fubferve reli- 
gion, do not negletT: the acquifition of human knowledge. 

This article belongs to political arithmetic, and writers on the 
do£trine of life-annuities treat of it with great perfpicuity, and, 
in general, on folid principles. Mr De Moivre — Dr Halley— 
Sir William Petty — Arbuthnot— Davenant— King — Kerflebom 
• — and others have beftowed much laudable labour on this fub- 
jecl. The fubftance may be found in Poftlethwaite's Dictionary, 
under the word annuity. 

There is a wonderful tendency in remarks of this kind to a- 
roufe and affecl: the bulk of ordinary hearers : but they ought to 
be made very feldom, and very foberly. It is not neceffary for 
a preacher to inveftigate thefe articles with the accuracy of an 
annuitant; it rs fufBcient for him to have the authority of allow- 
ed judges for what he affirms, and it is enough for him to fpeak 
in general terms, as Mr Claude does : " The proportion is of two 
©r three hundred.'* 



( 521 ) 

hazard thy falvation, thy foul, the friendfhip of thy 
God, thine eternal happinefs on this frivolous hope ! 
and to complete thy mifery, does thy wife, do thy 
children, thy friends, thy relations, do all the world 
let thee go on to do fo ! or, if they advife thee, doft 
thou pay no regard to their advice ! 

The fecond illufion, which beguiles multitudes, is 
an imagination, that they difcharge their duty, when, 
without concerning themfelves about their own fal- 
vation, as the apoftle commands, they employ them- 
felves about that of other people There are in ge- 
neral two ways of doing this. i. By faying the fineft 
things in the world about religion. Obferve what 
pafTes in the world. You will hardly find one a- 
mong many employed about his own converlion : 
yet every body will tell you we ought to be good 
people — the corruption of the age we live in is pro- 
digious — there is hardly any virtue or good faith- 
there is very little profeffion of practical religion, 
and almoft no real godlinefs. Thefe common-place- 
fayings are in the mouths of all : but, with all thefe 
fine fpeeches, you will rarely find one retiring 
from general views, ferioufly reflecting on himfelf* 
and faying What am I ? Am I not like others? Since 
I allow, every one ought to correct himfelf, is it not 
juft that I fhould begin with myfelf, put the firfl: 
hand to the work, and fet an example to my bre^ 
thren ! * 

* Many bad men fay fine things about rtligion* The excels 
lent Mr Edwards, than whom no man hath written better On 
religious affections, fays, " Fluent fervent abundant talking of 
religious fubjefts is no certain fign of truly gracious affections j 
for it may proceed from holy affections, and it may not. There 
are two extremes in this cafe. Some think a fulnel's of talk a 
juft ground for fufpe&ing the talker to be a Pharifee, an often- 
tatious hypocrite. Others rafhly pronounce him ? on the fame 

3U 



( 522 ) 

The fecond way of pretended concern about the 
falvation of others, without attending to your own, 
is ftill more fcandalous than the firft. Itconfifts in 
being always on the watch to cenfure and flander 
the actions of others. If they be really blame- wor- 
thy, you will hear them exclaim againft the crime, 
they will appear to be extremely offended, they will 
fet them off with the blackeft circumftances, and ex- 
aggerate them in every degree : but if the actions of 
others be apparently good and virtuous, not being a- 
ble to condemn them in themfelves, they will con- 
demn them in their principles. It is only, fay thev, 
the effect of ambition or hypocrify, they only want 
to make a parade, to be talked of, and raife their cre- 
dit and reputation with good people. Certainly all 
thefe are very diftant from St. Paul's meaning, when 
he fays, tvork out your own falvation. I will not fay, 
we mould entirely neglect the falvation of our neigh- 
bours, God commands, and charity obliges us to at- 
tend to it, and it would be a very unworthy and 
wicked faying, mould any, like Cain, cry out Am I 
my brother s keeper. However, I do affirm, it is not 
this only, which ought to employ us, it is not our 
firft, and principal occupation ; we muft begin by 
working out our own falvation, to this we muft par- 
ticularly apply ourfelves, left while we correct others 
we become incorrigible ourfelves. / keep under my 
body, fays the apoftle, and bring it into fubjeclion ; 
left that, by any means, when I have preached to o- 
thers, I myfelf fhould be cajl away. * 

account, an eminently pious man. The probability lies againft 
the great talker in the opinions of Edwards — Shepard — Flavel— 
&c. See Edwards on relig. affections part 2, f. 3. 
. * Deluded people cenfure and Jlander others. Mr Claude consi- 
ders flanderers, that execrable clafs of bad men, as trafficking 
in two forts of commodities^ actions and principles. Firft 3 they 



( 523 ) 



But it is time to pafs to the fecond part of this Ter- 
mor), in which I require lefs the attention of your 
minds than the emotions of your hearts. I intreat 
you both fimply to hear and judge of the truth and 
importance of what I fay to you, and to aft your- 
felves. May your conferences do what my tongue 
diftates, work out your own falvation ! let us work at 
it now, without putting it off to another time, and 
let a juft comment of thefe divine words be found to 
day in the exaft obedience, which we render to 
them. 

The firft aft, by which we mult begin, is a holy 
reconciliation to God. For this purpofe having caft 
our eyes on the greatnefs of the fins, which we have 
committed, and which we are perpetually committing 
againft him, and having confidered what favours we 
have received, and how fhamefully we have abufed 
them, having conceived a juft grief for our innumer- 
able fins, let us humbly have recourfe to his mercy. * 
Let each of us in particular recal his wanderings from 
God his tranfgreffions of his laws, how often and how 
varioufly each has difhonoured his calling, with 
what negligence each has violated his natural and 
religious obligations, and particularly thofe, to which 
his Chriftian profeffion engaged him. Let the pal- 
fionate remember the injufticeof their angry tanfports. 

sire collectors, carriers, wholefale and retail venders of all the 
improper actions, that are performed within their circle. Far 
from the chriftian difpofition of pity, they take an infernal plea- 
fure in propagating evil, and in aggravating it with a hundred 
falfe circumftances. 

* Having conceived a just grief for our— fins ^ let us — have re- 
courfe to mercy. This feems to have been the true original me- 
thod of preaching. It is a (late of fa£b ; it is founded in the 
nature and fitnefs of things; and it has been -that methyl, 
which the holy fpirit has thought lit to feal and fueceed in the 
hands of his mi miters. 

3U2 



( BU ) 



Let the covetous remember the many oblique ways 
they have taken to amafs riches* Let the outrageous, 
the proud, the flanderous, the revengeful, remember 
the injuries - they have done their neighbours. Let 
the worldly and voluptuous think of the many vain 
and rafh defires they have had for earthly things. In 
one word, let each of us review his paft conduct, let 
each weigh his a&ions in the balances of thefandhiary- 
and acknowledging himfelf a tranlgreflbr,a diiobedient 
and rebellicus child; unworthy of the love of God, fall 
at the footftool of his mercy with profound humility. 
This is the acl: of repentance fo pathetically expref- 
fed in the fifty-firft pfalm. Have mercy upon me 
O God, according to thy loving kindnefs ; according 
to the multitudes of thy tender mercies, blot out my 
iranfgrejfions. 'Wajh me thoroughly from mine ini- 
quity, and cleanfe mt from my fin, for I acknow- 
ledge my tranfgrejfions, and my fin is ever before me 9 
Againfi thee, thee only have I finned, and done this 
evil in thy fight. * This is the repentance, which 
the church, afraid of the anger of God, exprefles in 
the fixty-fourth of Ifaiah. We are all as an unclean 

* Againfi thee, thee ONZT, have I fomed* It is a ridiculous 
fenfe of this pafTage, which fome have given. Kings, fay they 
•when they fin, fin only againft God, and are accountable only to 
liim Both thefe propofitions are falfe, and neither can be in- 
tended in the text. Kimchi, and after him feveral chriftian ex- 
pofitors take the words to fignify, Thou, O God, only know eft 
my guilt in thefe tranfa£tions ; no mortal is able to prove it. — 
Calovius, and others fay, Againft thee chiefly have I finned. I 
have injured Uriah, and am guilty on that account : but, great 
as that crime might be, it is not equal in enormity to the crime, 
that I have committed againft thee. < From this topic, fays Mr 
Jienry, Jofeph fetched the great argument againft fin, Gen ; 
xxxix. 9. and David here the great aggravation of it." 

Henry on the place v 



( 525 ) 



things and all our right eoufnejfes are as filthy rags 9 
and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like 
the wind have taken us away ; and there is none 
that calleth upon thy name, that Jlirretb up himfelf 
to take hold of thee ; for thou hajl hid t by face from 
us, and baft confumed us becaufe of our iniquities. * 
This is the repentance, which Jefus Chrift propofes 
to us in the example of the prodigal fon, in thefe 
tender words of confeflion, Father ! I have finned 
againjl heaven and before thee, and am no more wor- 
thy to be called thy fon. If our repentance brings 
us to the foot of God's tribunal, let it bring us there 
profoundly humbled ; for God ref/leth the proud, 
but giveth grace to the humble. \ Let it bring us 

* (t The church exprefleth repentance in the fixty-fourth of 
Ifaiah." This chapter feems to be a prophetical defcription of 
the ftate of the Jews after the deftru&ion of Jerusalem. The 
prophet fpeaks of a time, when the metropolis, the other cities, 
the temple, and all their pleafant things were laid wafte, v. i o, 
ii. — It was after God had revealed by his fpirit what men had 
not perceived fince the beginning of the world, ver. 4. 1 Cor. ii. 
9. — The prophet perfonates the bulk of his countrymen at the 
time forefeen. None calleth upon thy name, none ftirreth up 
himfelf to take hold of thee, ver. 7. and therefore we are all, 
the whole nation, a few individuals excepted, are in the condi- 
tion of a leper, and all our pharifees and fcribes, and pretended 
good men, are in the ftate of menftruous women, we are in the 
ftate of a tree in autumn, and the punifhment of our iniquities 
hath taken us away ; we are excluded our religious privileges, 
and expofed to endlefs maladies. Micah vi. 9. Wifdom, that 
is, the man of wifdom, &c. Prov. xiv. 1. Foolifhnefs, that is, 
the foolilh woman. Pfal. cxx. 7. I peace, that is, I am a man 
of peace, &c. This form of fpeaking is equal to a fuperlative, 
extremely foolifh, exceffively wicked, Sec. 

Poli Synopf. 

f Gcd reftfleth the proud. James iv. 6. This is part of a diffi- 
cult period of fcripture, concerning which Mr Claude gave his 
judgment in a letter to a lady, who had required it. " There 
are, fays he, two difficulties in this paflfage. The firft is, it is a. 
feeming quotation in the fifth verfe. But there is no particular 
quotation at all $ S. James only fpeaks the general fenfe of fcrip- 



( 526 ) 



there deeply affe&ed, for a carelefs repentance is a 
treacherous repentance, betraying confcience by its 
fears, which are not only ineffectual, but even perni- 
cious : juft as the uncertain crifes of difeafes weaken 
inltead of relieving nature. As our repentance, how- 
ever fincere, avails nothing without a propitiatory fa- 
crifice for fin, let us add a holy and fervent recourfe 
to the blood of Jefus Chrift, and to the fatisfaclion, 
which he prefented to God the father on the crofs. 
This is the faith, which is fo often recommended to 
us in fcripture, and to which the gofpel is not afraid 
of joining the promifes of eternal life. If any man 
fin (fays St. John) zve have an advocate with the 
Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous, and he is the pro- 
pitiation for our fins. We are juftifed freely (fays S. 
Paul) by Gods grace through the redemption that is 
in Chrift Jefus •, whom God hath ft forth to be a pro- 
pitiation through faith in his blood. Through this 
redeemer God "will be reconciled to us, and we mail 
find grace in his fight, when we prefent ourfelves 
before him in communion with this great Saviour ; 
for there is no other name given among men whereby 
we can be faved^ his blood alone cleanfethfrom all fru 
What joy, my brethren! to warn in this myftical 
Jordan ! how happy mall we be, if we can lay our 
hands on the head of this holy vi&im, that in charg- 
ing him we may difcharge ourfelves of all our crimes. 

ture ; and the words would be clearer read thus, verfe 4. Ye 
adulterers, and adulterefles, know ye not that the friendfhip of 
the world is enmity againft God ? Whofoever therefore will be 
a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Do ye think, 
the fcripture fpeaketh in vain ?•— verfe 5. The fpirit, that dwell- 
etli in us, ftriveth againft envy— verfe 6. But he giveth more 
grace, &c. — The other difficulty is the connection of the fifth 
verfe with the preceding verfes , but this is difficult only to in- 
attentive readers," &c. Oeuvres pojlhum. Let. p. V. v. 



{ 527 ) 

Come unto me (fays he) all ye that labour, and are 
heavy laden, and I zv ill give you reft* 

As this peace with God is not made in a moment, 
there muft be great efforts to bring our hearts into a 
ftate proper for fuch a reconciliation. Having, then, 
as well as we are- able, collected our own fins before 
our eyes, let us make fome reflections on the horrors 
of them. And firft, let us well examine what we 
are by nature compared with the great God. A lit- 
tle handful of duft and afhes, a little earth kneaded 
together with blood, miferable little worms, a leaf 
carried away with the wind, a vapour which the fun 
exhales and diflipates. Are we not in comparifon 
of God infinitely lefs than a drop of water to the 
ocean, or a grain of fand to the whole univerfe. We 
have a ftature of five or fix feet, a mbfiftence in the 
world of a few years, a life full of infirmities, a death 
perhaps fudden, but however fo certain that neither 
reafon nor obfervation can have the leaft doubt about 
it : and yet altogether miferable as we are, mifery 
and nothingnefs itfelf, we have dared, or rather we 
have inceflantly prefumed to offend and infult the in- 
finite majefty of our Creator and Lord ! this vain 
fhadow vaunts itfelf againft the fun ! this drop of 
water contends with the ocean ! and this ridiculous 
grain of fand proudly elevates itfelf againft the crea- 
tor of the univerfe ! Tell me, I entreat you, is there 
the leaft fpark of reafon in all this ? Are we not al- 
ways fools when we offend God ? Is it poflible to 
conceive a blindnefs equal to ours, when fuch mean 
vile creatures as we dare to violate the laws of the 
Lord of all.* 

* This grain of fand elevates itfelf againft the creator of the 
univerfe. Mr Claude's defign is to aggravate (in, or rather to 
expofe its aggravation. - He therefore contrails the meannefs of 



( 528 ) 

2. Does not our blindnefs appear yet more ftrange 
if to this we add the power of the God whom we 
offend ? I affirm, it would be folly and ftupidity to 
rebel againflhim in consideration only of his infinite 
majefty, compared with our nothingnefs; yet, if 
our offences could pafs off with impunity, if our 
meannefs could fecure us from the ftrokes of his ven- 
geance, our folly, however great, would only be con- 
fiderable in itfelf, and not in its confequences ; we 
{hould fin againft the general dictates of right rea- 
fon; but we mould do nothing contrary to the par- 
ticular voice of prudence. But it is far otherwife; 
for the God we offend is arbiter of the death and 
life of all mankind, the fole difpenfer of adverfity and 
profperity, all creatures are under the laws of his 
providence, as a great army, which marches by his 
orders, and obeys all his commands 5 he has eternal 
prifons for the punifhment of his adverfaries ; he 
has dreadful executioners of his juftice, to whom he 
jflues his orders, and into whofe hands he delivers 
his criminals, to fuffer fuch vengeance as he com- 
mands. All creatures follow his love and hatred, 
all live and fmile on the objects of his favour, all 
frown at and deftroy thofe, who incur his difpleafure. 
He plants, he plucks up ; he builds, he deftroys ; 
he kills, he makes alive ; he raifes, he abafes : he 
comforts, he affli&s : and all the deftinies of all 
creatures, their goods, and their evils, from the 
greateft to the fmalleft things, from the throne to 
the dunghill, from the lofs of life to the fall of one 
of our hairs, all depend on his will. What wildnefs 
then fo frequently and cruelly to offend an almigh- 

the offender with the majefty of the offended. An excellent 
point of view, purely fcriptural, and highly adapted to fhake the 
confciencej and awake the criminal. See Job xxxviii. xxxix. xl. 4 



( 529 ) 

ty God, a righteous avenging God, who will not 
jujlify the wicked, who will not hold the finner guilt- 
lefs, and who has protefted, the wicked Jhall not Jland 
in the judgment! * 

3. To this reflection another may be added, which 
will much contribute to difcover the enormity of our 
fins. Confider how much we are indebted to God 
not only for his patience hitherto, but for that al- 
moft infinite number of mercies, which he has af- 
forded us, and particularly for calling us to the pro- 
feffion of the go/pel. I own our a&ions would be 
very punifhable by the law of God, for God has 
given it to us, he has naturally engraven it on our 
hearts, and it is our duty to follow and obey it: but 
muft it not be acknowledged, that we are infinitely 
more worthy of punimment, when to the voice of 
his law he has added that of his divine patience 
waiting long for our repentance ? f What has pre- 

* To the majefty add, the power of God. This is another juft 
method of expofmg the turpitude of fin. Omnipotence employ- 
ed to make a finner miferable, what a thought! What a dreadful 
thought! Mr Claude places three paffages in the clofe of this 
period in beautiful gradation. Firft,God will not juftify the wick- 
ed, Exod. xxiii 7. Next, God will not hold him guiltlefs, 
Exod. xx 7. Laft, God has protefted he fhall not ftand in 
the judgments Pfal. i. 5. See Nahum i. where the prophet 
makes a noble ufe of the argument taken from divine power. 
44 Jehovah is great in power, and will not at all acquit the wick- 
1 ed. Ver. 3. 

f Divine patience waiteth for our repentance. Some mini- 
fters have been flow to ufe this topic, left they fhould injure 
the doctrine of irrefiftible grace. We would beg attention to 
the following fa<£b. Firft, it is certain, the infpired writers, 
whofe orthodoxy cannot be doubted, ufed this ftyle. " The 
long-fuffering of God waited in the days of Noah. 1 Peter iii 
20. '* The Lord will wait that he may be gracious,'' Ifa. xxx 
18. Secondly, It is certain the fcriptures are not written on 
principles of metaphyfical accuracy but they fpeak after the 
manner of men, according to general appearance and popula 

3X 



( 550 ) 



vented the Lord's executing his great vengeance on 
us? Why were we net deftroyed the firft moment 
we offended him ? What then lhall we fay, when 
this patience mail reckon the days, months and years 
of its exercife towards us ? What {hall we have to 
anfwer when it {hall accufe us, that inftead of em- 
ploying thefe days, months, and years to our con- 
version and fandtification, w r e have made no other 
ufe of them than to increafe the number of our fins? 
But what will become of us when, after the voice of 
the law, and the complaints of patience, we {ball 
find the favours and mercies of God rife up againft 
us one after another, and altogether join in a thcu- 
fand reproaches of our ingratitude ? It would be 
enough for each crime to appear in its ou n turpi- 
tude, it would be enough for all our fins together to 
appear in that horror, which their number gives 
them; but what muft we fay when there ate a thou- 
fand fins in one: I mean when each fin is infinite 
in its nature ? Befides our rebellions againft the fu- 
preme authority of God, befides cur extreme obfti- 
nacy and hardnefs againft his patience, each fin is a 
particular outrage againft all the favours we have re- 
ceived of God: and as his favours have been infinite 
fo each of our fins has contained an infinite number 
of outrages againft the Lord, 

Thefe three reflections may be followed by a 
fourth, on the indifpenfible neceifity of a lively and 
profound repentance to reconcile us to God. Let 
us not flatter ourfelves, the God we adore can ne- 

notions. Thirdly, We hazard nothing -when we follow infpi- 
red guides^ we rifque every thing when we make unknown pur. 
pofes rules of a&ion.This argument, taken from divine patience, 
js a moft affecting one, and has been applied to the nobleft ufes 
by ministers. 



531 ) 



ver renounce his holinefs. The love of good, and 
hatred of evil, are as natural and effential as his om- 
nipotence and infinity. Yet mud God renounce 
his holinefs if he receive us into his favour without 
our renouncing fin. He would have communion 
with fin if he had communion with impenitent fin- 
ners. It is then as impoffible to unite ourfelves 
to God without repentance, as it is to unite life and 
death, light and darknefs: as impoffible as for God 
to deny himfelf, or to ceafe to be. Neither let us 
flatter ourfelves about the quality of this repentance, 
for it is not a cold and carelefs repentance, it is not 
that,which confifts in words only, it is not that, which 
paffes lightly through the mind, and which hardly 
touches the heart. God requires a penitence, which 
pervades all the powers of the foul, which penetrates 
to the bottom of them all, which produces fighs, 
tears and regrets, which is accompanied with a 
lively grief, a bitter fadnefs, not only for having ex- 
pofed ourfelves to puniftiment, but alfo for having 
offended the Lord, and fo drawn down upon our- 
felves his juft indignation. In one word, an habitual 
and powerful repentance, which breaks the mind 
and rends the heart, keeps us a long time in that ftate, 
and empowers us fincerely to return to righteoufnefs 
and holinefs. * 

* Repentance muft be habitual. How rational and fcriptu- 
ral is this kind of repentance, and how much to advantage the 
reformed churches appear, when the repentance prefcribed in 
them is contrafted with the confeffions, 'and penances, that are. 
prefcribed in the church of Rome! 

Habitual repentance. Mr Claude does not mean to limit 
the Holy One of Ifrael, Pfalm lxxxviii 41, and to make a given 
length of time effential to true repentance; but he intends to in- 
culcate the necefiity of continued a£h of piety. To hear fome 
fp eak of converfion, one would fuppofe, it began in conviction 
of fin, which lafted a few days, or weeks, and was fucceeded by 

3 X 2 



( 532 ) 



To incline you more effectually to this repentance 
let us (I befeech you) lift up our eyes to the mer- 
cy of God, and to the blood of the covenant, which 
Jefus Chrift hath fhed for us. Let us not imagine, 
while we feel remorfe for fm, that there is no balm 
in Gilead, no confolation in God : * doubtlefs there 
is, and were we fuch as we ought, we might come 
with boldnefs to the throne of grace and be allured of 
obtaining mercy and of finding grace to help in time 
of need. Come now, fays God by the prophet, let 
us reafon together, though your fins be as fcarlet, they 
jhall be as white as fuow, though they be red like 
crimfon they fijall be as wool. And again, Have I 
any pleafure at all that the wicked fhould die, faith 
the Lord God, and not that he fioould return from his 
ways and live ? This is the perpetual language of 
the gofpel, this is the voice of the blood of Chrift, 
thefe promifes declare the remiffion of our fins, and 
the blood of Jefus Chrift purifies our confciences from 
dead works. Let us then go with faith and hope 
to the propitiatory, which God in all ages ordain- 
ed. * Let us go with humility to the grace, which 

an aflurance of falvation, in which the convert is bound to con- 
tinue, happen what will, the remaining part of his life. Faith, 
in this cafe, confifts in believing you fhall be faved, and to que- 
ftion this is unbelief, the great, yea the only fin. On the con- 
trary, faith is the belief of a truth, 2 Theft, ii 13, and repent- 
ance is forrow for fin. Belief grows with increafing evidence, 
and repentance is repeated with the repitition of fin. Repeated 
a.c~t.s conftitute a habit, and thus repentance becomes habi- 
tual, 

* Let us go to the propitiatory. Rom. iii. 25. So many expofitors 
read the word. The fenfe feems to be contained in one or other 
of thefe propofitions. God hath fore-ordained againft a propitiator 
— God hath foretold the propitiation of Chrift— God hath fore/hewed 
Chrift in the Mofaical propitiatory, or mercy-feat. 

" Whom God hath appointed to be a propitiation — for a de- 
monftration of his righteoufneiV So Worflefs New Tejlameni 
reads it. 



( 535 ) 



calls us. Let us be reconciled to a God, who only 
feeks to do us good. We have lived long enough 
under difgrace, let us try to recover his peace, and 
with his peace the tranquillity and joy, which we 
have loft. Is it any pleafure to thofe, who defire to 
work out their falvation, to live a little longer at war 
with God ? Are not the days of his anger days of 
defolation and mourning for us ? Let us then feek 
his face and his favour, let us afk his bleffing. My 
heart faid of thee. Seek my face. I will feek thy face^ 
O Lord. * 

O 1 how happy fliould we be, my brethren, could 
we fee this gracious face of God, in which there is a 
fulnefs of joy, as the prophet fpeaks ! *f* Should we 

" Whom God hath fet forth to be an atonement, as a facri- 
Hce for fin, and the price of our redemption, to declare his juf- 
tice in overlooking for fo many ages the fins of mankind/' So 
Adam expounds it. — Paraph, on xi. chapters of Romans. 

* Seek my face. Pf. xxvii. 8. Our tranflation interpolates, 
When thou saidst, " Seek ye my face; my heart faid unto 
thee, Thy face Lord will I feek." The French more literal. 
" Mon cccur me dit de par toi, Cherche ma face, Je chercherai ta 
face O Eternel. " The Latin and Greek bibles tranflate in much 
the fame manner. The former, u Tibi dixit cor meum, quserite 
faciem meam ; faciem tuam domine quseram. The latter, sol 
eipen e kardia mou, &c. The literal meaning of the Hebrew 
feems to be, " My heart laid to, or concerning thee, Seek my 
face ; Thy face, O Jehovah, I will feek.'* 

Our Pool, having given many opinions of others, adds, " The 
paifage is imperfect, and mould be fupplied thus. Thou faidft, 
Seek my face. My heart hath revolved this command of thine, 
and repeated it under all my trials. I have made it the rule of 
my part actions, and it is the ground of the following prayer.'' 
See a fimiliar defecl, i Kings xx. 33, 34. 

f There is a fulnefs of jo% as the prophet fpeaks. Chriftian preach- 
ers differ very much in their methods of quoting fcripture in pu- 
blic. Some always name chapter and verfe; others never. It 
is a popular notion, that the quoting of chapter and verfe fully 
proves a minifter's intimate knowledge of fcripture. I do not 
think fo ; I believe, on the contrary, if it prove any thing, . it 
proves on the other fide. A ftudent of fcripture does not fufFer 



( 534 ) 



behold it, let us not imagine we are to flop there ; 
the work then would be but half done ; we muft ufe 

himfelf to attend to the figures, they would miflead him, divide 
his attention, and break the meaning. He reads on, as the authors 
wrote, and purfues, as we fay, the thread of the argument. 

Many learned men have juitly lamented the prefent difpofition 
of the Bible into chapters and verfes. " There feems to me, fays 
one, no conveniences in the divifion of the facred books into 
chapters and verfes, that can balance the inconvenience and pre- 
judice they bring. — I he feclions and paufes are improper.— The 
argument is mangled and broke off.— There is not one chapter in 
the New Teftament, that is not faultily divided. — The whole 
frame is cramped and disfigured by its odd difpofition into chap- 
ters and verfes." &c. In proof of this, he obferves, That A&s 
xxi. concludes with a comma— -that the ift verfeof the vii. chap- 
ter of the 2d of Corinthians ought not to have been divided from 
the laft verfes of the vi chapter— that the laft verfe of vii of S. 
John mould be the I ft of the viii — &c. &c— " Blackwall's Claf- 
ficks, vol ii. part 2. chap. I. 

Robert Stephens formerly, Worfley and others lately, have 
endeavoured to remedy this inconvenience by printing the New 
Teftament as it was written. The utility of this method is ma- 
nifeft. 

To return to the quotation of chapter and verfe. It mould 

feem, in argumentative preaching it is proper to quote texts for 
authority, and to name chapter and verfe for the auditors to look, 
turn down, and examine leifurely : but in applicator^ fermons, as 
in this of Mr Claude, it feems moft eligible to urge plain well 
known paffages without naming the places ; at leaft, we have 
obferved the ableft preachers prefer this method. When the 
fame difcourfes are printed it may anfwer a good end to throw 
chapter and verfe into the margin. Figures in the text disfigure 
the print, and incumber the reader, efpecially if, in reading to 
others, he read them. 

The New Teftament writers ufe various methods. — Sometimes 
in particular, It is written in the fecond Pfalm. A&s xiii. 33, — 
Sometimes in general, Mofes faith, I will provoke you. Efaias 
faith. Lord, who hath believed ? Rom. x. 19. 16. God /aith'm 
Hofea, Rom. ix. — Sometimes more general, It is written, I have 
made thee a father. — What faith the Scripture ? Rom. iv. 17. 3. 
It is written in the Prophets, Mark i. 2. The Apofiles of the Lord 
told you there fhould be mockers, Jude 17, &c. I have heard a 
learned able minifter preach an excellent fermon, which with 
great compofure he began thus : " My text, brethren, is in the 
book of Pfalms. I have forgot both the verfe and the pfalm. 
If I recoiled them before I finifh my difcourfe, I will inform 



( 535 ) 



all poflible means to preferve an advantage fo inefli- 
mable. In order to work out our own falvation we 
muft indeed be reconciled to God, and we muft al- 
io ufe means to maintain peace ; for the one without 
the other would be nothing. To preferve this advan- 
tage then three things are necelTary. ift. Our faith 
muft be kept and increafed. 2d. We muft live a ho- 
ly chriftian life. 3d. Repentance muft be familiari- 
zed ; for, (fuch is our mifery) whatever application 
we make to holinefs, we mail always be committing 
many fins. I grant, thele three things are not barely 
the practice of one day ; and they demand much 
more application than we can make during the few 
remaining moments of this exercife. Let us, how- 
ever, underftand what we may do now, without de- 
ferring it any longer. We may without delay form 
good and holy refolutions. * 

I. In regard to the prefervation and increafe of 
our faitby as both depend on the frequent reading of 
holy fcripture, and books of piety, on meditating oa 
the divine myfteries, on affiduity in religious exer- 
cifes, on attachment to prayer, and in fine on a holy 
remotenefs from worldly things, as much as the du~ 

you. I take pleafure in knowing that you can tell where to find 
them better than I pan at prefent. The words are, " The Lord 
God is a furi and fhield : the Lord will give grace and glory : no 
good thing will he withheld from them that walk uprightly 

* We may form good refolutions. Some Minifters exclaim bit- 
terly againft refolutions, and all the religion of fome hearers is 
to fit and form them Extremes are met with every where. The 
doctrine of refolutions is a very plain and eafv fubje&. It is a 
virtue to make them, and it is a fin to break them. Peter wag 
not to blame for refolving to live and die with his matter: his 
fault lay in darting from his engagement. It was a virtue in 
David to draw up a plan of holy living before he came to the 
kingdom, and torefolve to realize it Pfal. ci. Indeed, though 
the belt may break their refolutions, and fall very ftiort of their 
defigns : yet they, who never fo much as refolve to do well, will 
^fiuredly never do fo. 



( 536 ) 



ties of civil life will permit ; let us form now this 
moment the defign of carefully performing all thefe 
articles : I mean, of reading the book of God, of fe- 
rioufly meditating! on its contents, of being affidu- 
ous and attentive in public afTemblies of worfhip, of 
praying to God as often as poffible, and of making 
off as much as ever we can the thoughts and occu- 
pations of this prefent life. * To what can we bet- 
ter apply ourfelves than to read the fcripture, that 
heavenly book, which contains in it treafures of wif- 
dom and knowledge? and to which we may fay, as 

* Let us read the book of God. St Paul gave this advice to 
Timothy, " Give attendance to reading," I Tim. iv. 13. There 
are two extremes. Some read a great deal, but never meditate. 
Ariftippus confidered thefe, very properly, as great eaters, who 
digeft nothing. Mr Claude advifed one of this fort to read no- 
thing for three or four years, as if he had faid, (adds Bayle) you 
have eaten enough; now digeft. On the other hand, fome never 
yead. This is abfurd, if they profefs a written religion. 

There are four principal methods of reading the holy fcrip- 
tures. 1, It is adopted by fome as a proper part of private de- 
votion. Were a young perfon to get by heart only one verfe, 
a part of this private reading, every night or morning, it would 
infeven years richly furnifh his mind with fcripture. In private the 
fcripture mould be ftudied. 2. Familyreading requires fkill.Some 
read a period only of eight orten verfes. Others fuch aperiod with 
an expofition, as Henry's, Guyfe's, &c. Others read a chapter. 
Others again oblige each child, or fervant, to read one. Cir- 
cumftances determine the propriety of each mode of reading. 
3. Social reading is profitable. There are, in many reading fo- 
cieties, and in all private meetings fot prayer there ought to be, 
a good reader of fcripture. It furni flies ideas and cxpreflions 
to plain chriftians. 4. Some of our churches read the fcriptures 
in public worfhip conftantly, others on church-meeting days, 
faft days, and other extraordinary times The former feems 
to me not only a primitive, but an apoftolical practice. " Caufe 
this epiflle to be read in the church of the Laodiceans." Coh 
iv. 16. " I charge you that this epiftle be read unto all the holy 
brethren." 1 Thef. v. 27. When our author's rule is thus ob- 
ferved, a people may be truly faid to be " nouriihed up in the 
words of faith, and of good doctrine." 1 Tim. iv. 6* 



( 5S1 ) 

the difciples to the Lord, thou haft the words of e~ 
ternal life. How can we employ ourfelves better, 
when alone and free, than in con ver ling with the 
dodtrines and precepts of religion, and endeavouring 
to know and comprehend them ? We may truly lay, 
when we apply to thefe things, we are fatisfied with 
the marrow of God's hoiife> and drink of the river 
of his delights. Where can we be happier than in 
the houfe of God, when we have opportunity ? In 
hearing his word, in finging his praifes, in a par- 
ticipation of the facraments, and in the reft of the 
fervices of his houfe w T e find a harveft of confola- 
tion, edification, and joy. What can we do bet- 
ter when in our houfes, than to watch againft a too 
ftrong attachment to worldly things, fince the 
world is an abyfs, out of which, when we are 
once plunged, we cannot eafily get. You are not 
ignorant how difficult it is to take care and ma- 
nage your worldly affairs with innocence: but if that 
were poflible, what is the world but trouble and 
torment ? * 

To thefe holy refolutions, let us add others which 
concern holinefs of life. ' Let us now this inftant 
form the defign of never doing any thing till we 
have firft confulted confcience, to know what it per- 
mits, what it forbids, and what it ordains. I fee 
many people, who appear to have the beft intentions 
in the world, who would, as they fay, live holily, 

* Where can we be happier than in the houfe of God? The ge« 
neral negleft of public worlhip is an ufual topic of complaint. 
Minders lay the blame on the people the people on the minifters* 
Probably, the blame ought to be divided between both. The true 
fecret of filling a place of worfhip is the art of making the place a 
feat of pleafure and happinefs to the people. Some attention 
Ihould be paid to the houfe, that hearers may hazard nothing in 
their health. 

3Y 



( . S38 ) 

and who for that purpofe defire particular rules, 
precepts, and dire&ions. I approve of thefe de- 
fires: but this we fay on this earneft requeft of theirs 
for rules and precepts. Confult on every action the 
light and precepts of a good confcience, follow them 
in good faith, without violating, without warping, 
without entangling them with foreign view^s, and be 
aflured, you will find therein the beft and moll cer- 
tain of all directions. Let us refolve, my brethren, 
to acquit ourfelves the beft that we can of all our 
duties towards God, by a conftant pra&ice of piety ; 
of all duties of juftice and love towards our neighbour: 
and of all the duties of fobriety and temperance, that 
we may do nothing difhonourable to our nature or 
calling, nothing which does not comport with our 
heavenly original, and tend to the happinefs, for 
which we are referved. 

Finally, as, while we are in this earthly ftate, we 
are conftantly fubjecl: to falls, let us remember to 
have our eyes open alfo on this article. Let us not 
pafs one day without examining what of this kind 
has happened to us, and having acknowledged our 
faults, let us not defer repenting of them till to-mor- 
row. I own, repentance is not an agreeable thing, 
it is a grace, which is an enemy to depraved nature; 
fhe never vifits us but to trouble our repofe. Her 
approach makes us tremble, and her looks are fierce 
And threatening ; but (befides that it is a neceflary 
virtue as we have already faid) her firft approaches 
only are hard and difagreeable, her firft interviews 
only are forrowful, for when fhe leaves us, or to 
fpeak more properly, when Ihe abides with us, fhe 
diffufes in our fouls a thoufand delights, a thoufand 
confolations. We may apply to her what David 
fays of God. Clouds and darknefs are round about 



( 539 '■ ) 



ber, right eoiifnefs and judgment are the habitation of 
her throne. The fucceffive ad:s of her government 
are like the prophets vifion, when a burning fire 
and an impetuous wind were fucceeded by a foil 
and tranquil found, in which was heard the voice 
of God. * 

Let us now pafs to the third part. As this peace, 
which repentance works in us, is not a carnal fecu- 
rity, a finful lethargy, it is not contrary to every kind 
of fear, or, more properly, it is not only compatible 
with fear, but it is preferved only by means of fear. 
St Paul, therefore, was not content with commanding 
us to zvork out our own falvation; but he adds, zvith 
fear and trembling; prelcribing in thefe words, the 
manner of our conducting ourfelves in the work of 
our falvation. On this, we have a few reflections to 
make before we finifh this fermon. 

Firft, then, you muft refute a falfe fenfe of the apo- 
ftle's words, that, by fear and trembling, he meant 
we mould indulge the fear of a flave or an enemy % 
which would make us confider God as a judge al- 
ways fevere, and always angry, or as a hard mafter, 

* Repentance refembles the prophet's vifion* I Kings xix.' 
II, 1 2. <c The Lord patted by, and a great and ftrong wind rent 
the mountains - — and after the wind an earthquake — and after 

the earthquake fire and after the fire a iiill fmall voice." 

There are three principal expofitions of this vifion. Grotius, 
and many others think, the Lord intended to teach Elijah a 
fpirit of moderation, and to abate his vehement zeal. Others 
think, the wind reprefented Hazael, the earthquake Jehu, and 
the lire Elilha. They ground this on verfes 15, 16, 17. Monf. 
Roques takes the vifion to be an anf wer to the plaintive prayer of 
the prophet, as if God had faid, " True, the children of Ifrael 
have thrown down my altars, and flain my prophets, as you 
fay; but do not imagine their crimes fhall go unpunilhed, I have 
winds, earthquakes, fires, and plagues in referve for them, and I 
have alfo foft confolations for my prophets, and people among 
them. Saur. Differt. torn. iiL Difc. x. 

3 Y 2 



( 540 ) 

who, let us do what we would, would always be dif- 
fatisfied with our fervices, who would only meditate 
evil, and feek every occafion of avenging himfelf on 
us, and who even fets fnares to entangle us in per- 
dition. Far from this being a chriftian virtue, it is 
certain, on the contrary, nothing is more pernicious 
to the creature, nothing more injurious to God, no- 
thing more oppofite to true piety. This fear, which 
is only proper to devils and damned Ipirits, is a per- 
petual lource of inquietudes and agitations, and it can 
only in the end drive to madnefs and defpair. What 
poffibility is there of faving ourfelves from the hands 
of the devil, if God is refolved on our deftru&ion. 
Or what hope can we have of efcaping puniihment, 
if his natural properties incline him to hate and de- 
ftroy us ? Abcve all, what can be more injurious to 
God than fuch a thought ? As I live^ faith the 
Lord himfelf, / have no pleafure in the death of the 
tvicked^ but that the n icked turn Jrom his way and 
live. No, my brethren, God is not naturally an cne^ 
my to his own work, I grant he is juft : and becaufe 
he is juft, I conceive, he will not always chaftize us 
for our fins. Moreover, he has fo much goodnefs 
and tendernefs for us, that he freely opens a way for 
our return to his favour after all our offences, having, 
for this purpofe, offered up his ion a lacrifice for fin, 
and is now calling us to repentance. Befides all this, 
he has promifed to treat; us with the tendernefs of a 
father, and to carry his love fo far as to bear with 
our defects and w eakneffes, the deficiencies of our 
repentance and faith in Jefus Chrift. He has com- 
manded us to put our confidence in his mercy, and 
to be perfuaded, that as a father pitieth his children* 
fo will the Lord pity them that fear him. Far from 
us be this fervile fear, which is fo incompatible with 



( 541 ) 



piety ! Piety is nothing but a profound efteem, an in- 
finite love for God: but how could we efteem and 
love him, if we imagined he was jealous of our hap- 
pinefs, and an enemy to our perfons ? J 

In the fecond place, the fear in queftion is what 
is called filial, which not only agrees very well with 
confidence and love: but which is their perpetual 
aflbciate. This fear infpires us with different emo- 
tions according to the different o*bje&s we meet with, 
l. It impreffes us with a profound refpect and ve- 
neration always when we appear before God, a re* 
fpecl: which arifes from a confideration of his infinite 
majefty,the rays of which dazzle us; of the ineffable 
wifdom and glorious power, which fhine in all his 
works ; of his juftice and holinefs, and in one word, 
of ad his perfections ; fo that we cannot confider 
them without diminiihing in his prefence, and ac- 
knowledging, that in comparifon with him we are 
but duft and allies, 

2. When we remember the great privilege which 
God has granted us by declaring himfelf our father 
in Ghrift Jefus, it is not poflible for us not to be un- 
der perpetual apprehenfions of offending him, and 
of drawing upon ourfelves, by our mifconducl:, the 
juft effe&s of his indignation. The fight only of fin 

% Far from us be fervik fear I Mr Claude reafons againfl: fla- 
vifh fear from feven topics, i. From the nature of God 3 
from his juitice, goodnefs, &c. — 2. From the teftirnony of God; 
he hath faid, he defireth not the death of a fmner.— 3. From the 
works of God •, he hath given his fon to die. — 4. From his pro- 
miles ; he hath promifed to accept us, &c— -5. From his com- 
mand ; he hath commanded us to confide in his mercy. — 6. 
From his expoftulations j he hath perfuaded us &c. In fine, 
from the incompatibility of fervile fear, with piety and human 
felicity, which religion evidently tends to promote. Thefe are 
fubftantial helps againit defpairj excellent in themfelves 3 and 
well authenticated to us. 



( 542 ) 



alarms us, and were we fare we never fhould com- 
mit it, the idea itfelf would be horrible enough to 
make us tremble ; almoft like a man who from the 
top of a high tower looks down a precipice, or like 
feeing on more the abyffes of the fea, the horrors of 
a tempefl : for however fafe we are, thefe objefts 
will not fail to affright us. $ 

3. When we refle& on ourfelves, and confider 
our natural inclinations prone to evil, and compare 
them with thofe good and holy difpofitions, which 
grace has formed in us, it is impoffible not to acknow- 
ledge, that all we have of good comes from God, 
that of ourfelves we are incapable of the leaft good 
thing, and that it is God who worketh in us both to 
will and to do oj his good pleafure. Now this pro- 
duces that humility, which the fcripture calls fome- 
times jfozr, as in that famous paffage to the Romans, 
Be not high minded : but fear ; and in thefe admi- 
rable words of the fecond pfalm, Serve the Lord 
with fear^ rejoice before him with trembling. In 
both thefe places fear fignifies humility. * 

% Filial fear agrees with love. One of the fineft notions, that 
can be formed of any one chriftian grace, is that of its harmony 
with all other chriftian graces. No general rule of defcribing 
a virtue will tend more towards preferving us from error than 
this, Hope lightens fear, and fear is ballaft to hope. Faith 
keeps repentance from running into defpair, and repentance 
keeps faith from riling to prefumption. The new man, or that 
fet of graces, which conft'itutes a chriftian, is, like the natural 
body, a beautiful compofition of feemingly oppofite materials 
formed into one uniform fyftem, each part effentialjto the whole, 
and the whole the glory of each part. 

* Fear fignifies humility. That is to fay, fear is fometimes 
fpoken of metonymically, The fear of Ifaac, Gen. xxxi. 42. is 
the God whom Ifaac feared.— I will mock when your fearco- 
meth, Prov. i. 26. that is, when thofe calamities come, of which 
ye are afraid. — The fear of the Lord is clean, Pfal. xix, 9. that 
is, the law of the Lord. — I will teach you the fear of the Lord, 



( 543 ) 



4» When we confider not only that ftate of na- 
tural corruption whence we were taken, but alfo the 
infirmities and weaknefles, which remain fince our 
regeneration, and when we compare thefe with the 
numerous (hares, which are fet for us, with that for- 
midable multitude of enemies, which attack our fal- 
vation, with the force and addrefs, which they dif- 
play to furprize and enfnare us ; however intrepid 
we may be, it is not poffihle, if we fincerely intend 
to be faved, but we muft fear making fome falfe ftep, 
and confequently this will awaken all our diligence 
and caution to endeavour to guard againft it ; for, 
after all, there is no art, which our adverfaries will 
not try to make us ftumble, nor is there any fin, 
which we are not capable of committing. Which 
of us, however advanced he may be in piety, can 
anfwer for his own heart ? This made Jefus Chrift; 
fay to his difciples, Watch and pray, left you enter 
into temptation ; for the fpirit is willing : but the 
jlejh is weak. * 

Pfal. xxxiv. 1 1 . that is, I will inftru& you in the worfhip of 
God — By the fear of the Lord are riches and honour, Prov. 
xxii. 4. that is by a courfe of moral obedience. 

* There is no fin % which we are not capable of committing. Our 
author does. not intend to contradict what he had elfewhere af- 
firmed, concerning the impoflibility of a good man's committing 
the (in againft the Holy Ghoft. He only means, that were we 
wholly left to the natural depravity of our hearts, and were we 
denied the aids of the bleffed fpirit (neither of which can come 
to pafs according to Mr Claude's fyftem) we might proceed to 
the commifnon of every fin, and confequently of the unpardon- 
able fin. The Calviniftic fyftem is preferable to every other on 
this article, as it lays a folid ground of hope for every true be« 
liever, that he {hall not fo fin as to perifh everlaftingly. All o- 
ther fy items leave the unpardonable fin open to every chrift i an : 
but this fhuts the gulph, and fo provides ftrong confolation for 
the heirs of promife. Heb. vi. 17, 18. See the fubject at large 
in Monf. Claude's Qeuvres pofthumes, Tom, iv. Traite du peche 
contre Le $. Efprit, 



( 5U ) 



5. Though the grace of God, which fupports us 
in temptations, be capable of preferring us, yet, 
fhould God fufpend the influenee of his grace, what 
advantages would not the flefh obtain over the fpi- 
rit, as the falls of David and Peter too fufficiently 
teach us ? This confideration fhould perpetually 
make us fear and tremble, for who can allure us, 
that there will be no moments in our lives, in which 
God will leave us a prey to the temptations of the 
world, and the occafions of fin ? And mould this 
happen, it would be the mo ft deplorable and mifera- 
ble ftate, into which a believer could fall. This is 
then a juft fubjecl: of fear, which ought always to 
make us lift up our eyes and prayers to God, to beg 
him not to lead us into temptation, but to deliver us 
from the wiles of the enemy, and the evil tempers 
of our own hearts. * 

In a word, there are jive kinds of fear, in which 
we ought continually to be. A fear of refpecl re- 
membering what we are in the eyes of that infinite 
Majefty, who fees us, and in the hands of the per- 
petual Providence, which governs us — A fear of hor- 
ror in regard to fin, remembering that the greateft of 
evils is that of offending a good and merciful God, of 
whom we have received fo many favours — A fear of 

* This is a jiifl jubjeEl of fear* We conclude this chapter by 
curforily obferving the peculiar turn of our author's applicatory 
fermons. To apply in his fenfe, is to bring home to the con- 
fcience. In order to this his aim is to convince the judgment, 
that fo the paflions, which are excited, may be excited rationally 
and voluntarily. Now there are only two ways of doing this ; 
either unknown truths muft be ftated and proved, or known al- 
lowed truths muft be urged. Mr Claude wifely prefers the lat- 
ter method, and compofes applicatory fermons of the plaineft 
fimpleft truths in the world, and like a true matter in Ifrael ex- 
claims, This is a juft ground of hope— that is a juft fubje£t of 
fear, &c* 



( 545 ) 



humility, remembering that all we are, and all we 
have by grace, we hold not of ourfelves, but God-^— 
A fear of precaution, remembering that the juji fall- 
eth /even times a day, and that if zve fay, We have 
no fin, %ve deceive ourfelves, and the truth is not in as 
— A fear of attachment to God, faying to him with 
the prophet, Forfake me not, 0 Lord, 0 my God, be 
not far from me. In this manner let us work out 
our own falvation, and God, beholding his talents 
multiply in our hands, will increafe their number by 
adding blefling upon blefling, till at length he will 
change grace into glory, and give us the entire and 
perfect enjoyment of his everlafting inheritance. 



CHAP. VIII. 

Of Texts to be difcuffed in Propofitions. 

T^O thefe three, a fourth may be added, which 
confifts in reducing the texts to a number of 
propofitions, two at leaft, and three or four at moft, 
having mutual dependence, and connection. Thus 
for example, Rom. viii. 13. If ye live after the fefh, 
ye jhall die : but if ye through the fpirit do mortify 
the deeds of the body, ye Jhall live. You may, with- 
out pretending to explain the terms, Jlefh — fpirit — ■ 
death — life, or the phrafes live after the flefo—mor- 
tify the deeds of the body-*— (which is the ufual me- 
thod,) you may reduce the whole to two propofitions; 
the one, that the damnation of finners is inevitable 
—and the other, that a good and holy life is both a 
principal end of the gofpel, and an infeparable cha* 
rafter of chriftianity. When this method is taken f 

3 Z 



( 546 ) 



there is much more liberty than in the former, and a 
more extenfive field opens. In the former methods 
you are reftrained to your text, and you can only ex- 
plain, and apply that ; you can make no other ob- 
servations, than fuch as precifely belong to it : but 
here your fubject is the matter contained in your pro- 
pofitionSy and you may treat of them thoroughly, and 
extend them as far as you pleafe, provided you do 
not violate the general rules of a fermon. Here you 
muft propofe not to treat of the text, but of thofe 
fubjeftsy which you have chofen from feveral con- 
tained in the text. The way of explication is moft 
proper to give the meaning of Scripture ; and this of 
fyftematical divinity. * The way of application ra- 
ther regards practice than theory : but this, which 
we call the way of propofitions, or points, is more 
proper to produce an acquaintance with fyftema- 
tical divinity, and it will equally ferve theory and 
practice, •f 

* c< Systematica! divinity." Some writers have exclaimed bit- 
terly againft fyftems of divinity, others have exaggerated the 
utility of them. Perhaps the truth may be, neither fide has 
taken fufficient pains to underfland the other. Theology redu- 
ced to a fyftem is nothing more than a regular arrangement of 
what we hold for religion, and there can be no damage done by 
fuch orderly difpofitions of truths: on the contrary, much bene- 
fit arifes to a ftudent of divinity by them, for a fyftem is as ad- 
vantageous to a minifter, as a regular fet of books to a mer» 
chant. 

f Propojitisns. This rule is beautifully exemplified by Saurin 
in his fermon on Chrift's divinity. "The dodtrine of the divi- 
nity of Jefus Chrift (fays he) we ground on three propofitions. 
ill, Jefus Chrift is fupremely adorable, and fupremely adored 
by beings the moft worthy of our imitation. 2dly, It implies 
a contradiction to fay, that God communicates the honours of 
fupreme adoration to a fimple creature. 3dly, Our ideas of this 
fubjecl: are perfectly conformable to thofe of the ages, in which 
orthodoxy is beft eftabliftied, and lealt fufpected." The text is 



( 547 ) 



For example, let us take the text juft now quoted. 
If ye live after the flefh, ye fall die ; but if ye 
through the fpirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye 
Jhall live. After faying in a few words, that by 
thofe, who live after the flefh, the apoftle means the 
worldly, and wicked, fuch as are governed by world- 
ly interefts, and carnal paifions ; and that by the 
death, with which he threatens them, he means 
eternal damnation ; and that, on the contrary, by life, 
he intends that eternal falvation, and heavenly glory, 
which the gofpel promifes ; and that, by the morti- 
fication of the deeds of the body, of which he fpeaks, 
and of which he fays the holy fpirit is the author, 
he intends an holy life, fpent in the exercife of vir- 
tues, and practice of good works ; after briefly faying 
this, reduce the whole difcourfe to two propofitions^ 
firft, The damnation of the wicked is inevitable.— 
Secondly, The practice of good works, and an holy 
and religious life is the principal end propofed in the 
gofpel, and a principal character of a true chrif- 
tian, 

\ ■ 

Rev. v. ii, 12, 13, 14. and the fermon a full anfwer to all that 
can be objected againlt the do&rine. Saur.fer. torn, u.fer. 4. 

Propofttions or points. Our author ufes thefe terms fynoni- 
moufly ; our Engliih divines take the latter in a far more vague 
and equivocal meaning. — " The death of Chrift is the founda- 
tion of the fpirit of life ; to unfold this point therefore, becaufe 
it is a fpeciai point* *' — " For the understanding of this comforta- 
ble point" — Sibbs " The point to be considered is the expe- 
diency of a divine revelation. Common reafon will lead us to 
acknowledge the being of a God — will give us fome notions of 
his power, wifdom, juftice, and goodnefs, — will fuggeft to us the 
belief of a providence— will teach us the relation in which we 
itand to God as creatures — our obligations to worfhip and obey 
him in the general— the duties of juftice, charity, and temper- 

i ance in the more obvious inftances, and laftly, that we deferve to 
fuffer, as often as we deviate from the known rules of duty, 

j Thefe points cannot be difputed," &c f Canybeare, 

3Z 2 



C 54'S ) 



You may enter on the firft propofition, by obfer- 
\ing, that it is deplorable to confider the blindnefs 
in which the greater! part of the people in the world 
live, who feldom think of the punifhments of hell, 
or the confequences of death. You may remark, 
that from this blindnefs comes their infenfibility to 
religion, and their extreme attachment to the vani- 
ties of this prefent world ; for it would be impoffi- 
ble for them not to endeavour to avoid the eternal 
torments, which await finners after this life, were 
they w 7 ell perfuaded of the truth of them, as nature 
itfelf would lead them to this, and felf-love would re- 
duce knowledge to pra&ice. Yet you may add, 
that however great this blindnefs is, it is, in a mea- 
fure, affected, and voluntary, proceeding more from 
the malice of the heart, than the darknefs of the un- 
derstanding ; for the paflions avoid thofe objects* 
which are difagreeable to them, and perpetually fub- 
fiitute others to employ the mind. Whence it may 
be concluded, that it is of the laft importance to me- 
ditate on this matter, on which depends the juftice, 
or injuftice of our life, the good, or bad ftate of our 
death, and our eternal intereftin a future world. 

Having thus prepared the people's minds, enter 
into the matter more particularly, and, above all 
things, take care to eftablifh the truth, and evidence of 
your propofition * by obferving; firft that Man is a 

* Above all things take care to render the truth of your propofition 
evident. We have before obferved, that the pungency of a 
fermon lies in the truth of the doctrines, that compofe it, 
To which we beg leave to add, the truth of a doclrine 
inuft be made apparent, or it cannot produce its efFecl. 
Some truths in learned fciences admit of only learned demon- 
ilrations ; they are the fame to the lower clafs of mankind there- 
fore as errors, for they cannot comprehend the arguments that 
eflablifh them ; but theology is not a fcience of this kind 5 it ad- 



( 549 } 



creature fuhjeEl to a law y that even the light of his 
confcience difcovers an effential difference between 
vice, and virtue, good a&ions, and bad, that thence 
come the emotions of confcience, and the judgments 
we make of one another's anions, approving or con- 
demning them ; for this neceffarily proves, that 
there is a common rule by which, we acknowledge, 
all men ought to live ; and this is a truth fo natural 
to all men, that the wickedeft of all, who endeavour 
to elude its application to themfelves, do however 
acknowledge it, when propofed in general, and ap- 
plied to other fubje£ts. * If there be a law common 

mits of popular proof, and this is its glory. A good judge has, 
well faid, " The whole art of evangelical popular perfuafion lies 
in an ability of blending the hard with the eafy, the obfcure 
with the obvious, fo that the learned may not be naufeated with 
vulgarifms, nor the populace perplexed with fophifms."— 
Eman. The/, de argut.cap xviii. 

* There is a rule, by which all men ought to the, — The mojl wick- 
ed allow it. That is, the molt wicked are obliged to allow it, if 
they reafon confecjuentially, Mr Hobbes fuppofed, w That the 
decifions of the civil magiitrate were to be the rule of morality, 
and that the very obligations of duty could be founded only in 
his will." To which a divine well replied, " What if the magi- 
ftrate himfelf mould be under a miftake ? — Should either re- 
fufe to eftablilh any fcheme of virtue at all ?— Or choofe an im- 
perfect one ? — Or, having once made a right choice, through 
levity of temper change it ? — Thofe, who are incapable of being 
influenced to a virtuous life in any other way than this, mult be 
left in very uncertain condition."— Dr. Ccnybeare's Sermon on the 
Expediency of a Divine Revelation. 1 7 29. 

" There are, fays Bay le, laws of reafoning independent on the 
will of man. Rules of reafoning are not therefore juii and tiue, 
becaufe men have thought proper to throw them into fyllogi- 
ftical form •, they are juft in themfelves. Sophifms may violate 
thefe rules : but they cannot free themfelves from thefe criteria. 
As there are immutable laws for the operations of the judgment* 
fo there are fimilar laws for acts of volition. Thefe are not ar- 
bitrary, they are natural and necetTary, and lay us under indif- 
penfible obligations*, and as it is inaccurate to reafon contrary 
to the fixed, laws of fyllogifm, fo it is unjuft to will any thing 



( 550 } 



to all men, there muft be a Supreme Judge, before 
whofe* tribunal they muft appear to give an account 
of their actions, and if there be a fupreme tribunal to 
judge them, it neceflarily follows, that there are pu- 
nishments ordained for the tranfgreflbrs of this com- 
mon law. Law, Judge, Punifhment, are three things, 
which reafon and nature have joined together in in- 
diffoluble bonds. A law is no law if it does not fup- 
pofe a judgment, and judgment is no judgment if it 
does not fuppofe punifhment: but if thefe three 
things be infeparable from each other, they are alfo 
from a fourth, the nature of man, and dignity of his 
condition as he is a reafonable creature, reafon being 
only a principle of good or evil, or, if you pleafe, a 
power which renders us capable of good and evil, 
in oppofition to brute beafts, not naturally made ca- 
pable of either vice or virtue. It muft therefore be 
owned, that we are fubjecl; to a law, a law relates to 
a judge, a judge to a difpenfation of punifhments, 
fo that thefe four things, reafon, law, judgment and 
punifhment, are truths of inconteftible evidence, nor 
can any one be denied without deftroying them 
all * 

not conformable to fixed laws of volition. There is in virtue a 
natural and interior fitnefs, and in vice a fimilar unfitnefs and 
injuftice, fo that virtue and vice are two kinds of qualities natu- 
rally and morally different." — Baile Penfees. 

* Reafon, lanv> judgment and punifiment are conneBed toge- 
ther. Our excellentDr Sam. Clarke has placed thefe articles in 
the cleareft light, and proved their connection in the moft ma- 
fterly and conclufive manner. " Though eternal moral obliga- 
tions are incumbent indeed on all rational creatures, antecedent 
to any refpecl: of particular reward or punifhment, yet they muft 
certainly and neceiTarily be attended with rewards and punifh- 
ments ; becaufe the fame reafons, which prove God himfelf to 
be neceiTarily juft and good . . prove alfo that he cannot but 
be pleafed with and approve fuch creatures as imitate and obey 
him . . and difpleafed with fuch as a£t contrary . . and, con- 



( 551 ) 



Now from all this it appears how pernicious this 
wilful blindnefs is, which makes the wicked deny 
the pains of hell ; for thereby they turn themfelves 
into brute beafts, and, openly profeffing to deny their 
own reafon, they degrade themfelves below that ad- 
mirable dignity of their nature, which places them 
above all other animals. 

Having thus eftablifhed your proportion by rea- 
fon, you may eftablifh it by the confent of all man- 
kind ; for in the thickeft darknefs of paganifm, when 
as the fcripture fays, God fuffered all nations to walk 
in their own ways, even then, it was always acknow- 
ledged, that as there was a reward propofed to the 
juft, and virtuous, fo there were alfo punifhments de- 
termined for the unjuft and impious, I own, when 
the pagans philofophized on thefe puni£hments, they 
almoft all faid chimerical, and unreafonable things, 
yet allowing this, they were not far from this gene- 
ral idea, that there mull neceffarily be a punifhment 
annexed to vice. * 

This may be further proved by the principal of 
all religions. There never was, nor can there ever be 
any, which is not founded on this principle, that 
God is our fovereign judge, who holds in his hands 
our life and death ; this made a profane writer fay, 
Fear made God's ; meaning that from this fource all 
religions generally proceeded. 

Finally, you may proceed to revelation , and ob- 
serve, that revealed religion has carefully placed this 

fequently that he cannot but fome way or other make a fuitable 
difference in his dealings with them." &c. — Demonjlrat. of Being 
and Attributes of God, 

* Prove your doclrine by affirming the confent of all mankind, 
Univerfal confent has been difputed as a fact, and denied as an 
argument : yet we have great authority for the truth of the hCt s 
and ftrong reafons to retain the argument, 



( 55-2 ) 



truth in full evidence. You may effablifh this by 
reciting fome principal texts of Scripture, which ex- 
prefsly fpeak of the damnation of finners. Such 
texts are not difficult to find. * The truth of the 
punifhment being thus proved, go on to the degree 
of it; which is very important, and will make a :eep 
impreffion. You may fay, ift. That this punifh- 
ment muft not be in this iife only, but after death ; 
the reafon is plain, it is a punifhment which muft fol- 
low the judgment, for the judgment cannot be till 
life is ended, as the courfe of life we purfue muft be 
finifhed, before the decree can be pronounced to ac- 
quit, or condemn us. It muft not then be imagined 
that the punifhment of which we fpeak, confifts in 
the afflictions of this life only. 2. It muft be a 
punifhment, which involves both foul and body, for 
as both have joined in the pra&ice of vice, both muft 
alfo partake of the punifhment ; whence it follows, 
that the punifhment can neither be temporal death, 
which does not affect the foul, nor the inquietudes, 
and agitations of confcience, which do not affed: the 
body. 3d. It muft be a real punifhment, that is, 
fomething which has truly the eflence of pain, and 
actually relates to the juftice of God, whence it fol- 
lows that it cannot confift (as fome pretend) in the 

* " Texts, that fpeak of the damnation of finners, are not 
difficult to find." The notion advanced by fome, that the Old 
Teftament fpeaks of only temporal rewards and punifhments, 
"Would make a confiderable difference in our bodies of divinity, 
if it were well founded. Our divines, ancient and modern, teach 
the docTrine of future punifhments, and confirm it by a multi- 
tude of paffages in both Teftaments, for which, we think, they 
have the belt authority. However, when this doclrine is to be 
eftablifhed in a fermon, it mould feem moft eligible to quote un» 
difputed New-Teftament texts ; for as there can be no neceffity 
for quoting many, it would be imprudent to omit thofe, which 
prove moft and quickeft. 



( 553 j 

annihilation of body and foul ; for divine juftlce de- 
mands an eternal pain, which glorifies it, and confe- 
quently which does not deftroy its fubjed, but con- 
tinues its fubfiftence for a perpetual monument of 
God's hatred to fin. 4th. It mud be a punifhment 
proportional in greatnefs, as well as in duration — to 
the greatnefs of the judge who ordains it, the tribu- 
nal which decrees it, and the almighty hand which 
executes it. Here a ftrong and pathetical defcription 
may be made of the greatnefs of the punifhments of 
the damned. * 

Having thus eftablifhed the truth of our propo- 
fition, and treated of the degrees of punifhments^ 
we may pafs on to the vain fubterfuges, which fin™ 

* " Defcribe pathetically the punifhments of the damned." — 
Some preachers, (fays Saurin) under pretence that the doctrine 
of eternal punifhments has thrown fome weak people into doubts 
about the divine perfections, have thought it their duty to re- 
move that (tumbling-block j by prefuming that the idea, which 
Scripture gives of eternal punifhments, is only intended to terri- 
fy finners ; they think it allowable to fuppofe, that in the end 
God will relax the rigour of them : but if the defign of God in 
denouncing the punifhments of hell was only to terrify the im- 
penitent, would it become us to oppofe his wife defigns, and with 
our profane hands pull down the dams, with which he meant to 
flop the current of our crimes . ? Would we penetrate into his 
counfels, and, after having (as it were) extorted his confidence, 
indifcreetly publifh his fecrets ? — Let us not be wife above what is 
written, let us preach the gofpel as it has pleafed God to com- 
mitittous He has not judged that the doctrine of eternal 
punifhments would wound the holinefs of his attributes, don't 
let us think fo then." Ser. de Tenfer. torn. ii. 

" Where is the minifter of the gofpel who has not a thoufand, 
and a thoufand times, difplayed the charms of religion, and dif- 

, played them in vain ? Some fouls muft be terrified, fome finners 
muft be faved with fear, and pulled out of the fire Some hearts 
are fenfible only to one religious object, that is hell, and, if there 
be any one way of preventing their being really precipitated in- 

1 to that frightful abyfs by and by, it is by precipitating them there 
in imagination now. " Knowing therefore the terror of the 
Lord, we perfuade men." Sur les Compaf. 

4 A - 



! 



( 554 ) 

ners ufe on the fubjecT:. lit, It is a diiireffing fub~ 
jedt, therefore they do not like to think about it* 
You may obferve the folly of this condu&-,£or their 
condemnation is not the lefs certain for their for- 
getting it. They referable prifoners, already in irons, 
and doome4 to punifhment, who ftifle the fenfe of 
their mifery by plunging into debauchery. They 
referable the old world, who were eatings drinking , 
marrying and giving in marriage % as the fcripture 
fays, and fuddenly, when they leaft of all thought of 
it, the flood came and took them all away. They 
cry peace ^ peace, while deftru&ion advances a great 
pace towards them ; and irrecoverably lofe the pre- 
cious moments, which yet remain for their efcape. 
2dly, When worldly men cannot entirely avoid the 
thought of damnation, which is frequently the cafe, 
for God often thunders in their confciences, as well 
as in the air, and thefe thunder claps frequently awake 
the moft fleepy; when this is the cafe, I fay, they 
venture to take refuge in falfe notions, x. They flee 
to the mercy of God. " God, fay they, is indeed 
our judge: but he is a gracious judge, he has the 
compaflions of a father," and fo on, When a fmner 
would flatter himfelf, he will not fail to magnify 
reigning grace, and to collecl: all the moft tender, and 
foft pafTages of fcripture on the fubjecl:. What a 
marvellous abufe is this of mercy ! To make it an 
argument againft the juft punifhments their crimes 
have deferved. True, God is merciful : but he is 
fo only to repenting finners, and not to thofe, who 
perfevere in their crimes. Mercy, on the contrary, 
arms itfelf to purfue the impenitent, for mercy is 
cruelly abufed, nor will mercy allow the impunity of 
that fmner, who perfifts in fin, and would make 
pompaffion itfelf an accomplice in his crimes. 2* 



( 555 ) 



The wicked feldom fail to abufe the evangelical doc- 
trine of the death of Chrift. " The blood of Jefus 
Chrift (lay they) cleahfetb from all fin?' But this is 
to make Jefus Chrift the minifter of fin, and to en- 
tertain the moft horrible of all notions, that he came 
into the world to leave men in an abyfs of corrup- 
tion, and to make himfelf a church, a myftical body 
compofed of infidels, and libertines. Harfh as this 
may appear, it mud be fo, if there were any room 
for the illufion of thefe miferable people, who, to e- 
vade the neceffity of repentance, oppofe the unap- 
plied blood of Chrift againft the fear of dam- 
nation. * 

3. The greateft part of thefe people* when they 
fee the fword of divine juftice, accuftom themfelves 
to hide in a multitude like themfelves, and to oppole 
their numbers againft the natural fear of puniftimento 
" If God (fay they) were as rigorous as you repre- 
fent him, Paradife would be a defert, and all men 
would be damned, for how few keep his command™ 
ments ! how few forfake fin by fuch a repentance as 
you require of us !" But Jefus Chrift has already 
anfwered this vain objection, many are called^ faid he, 
but few choftn. Ifaiah and St Paul have anfwered it, 
though the number of the childrenlfyf Iffael be as the 
f and of the ft a, a remnant only Jhall be faved. How 
great foeverthe number of thole, who perifh, may be s 

* " Impenitent finners take refuge in falfe notions," As all 
our minifters allow, that the do&rines of grace may be mifun- 
derftood and abufed by libertines, what becomes of that argu« 
ment againft chriftianity, which is derived from the loofe lives 
of fome of its profeflbrs ? Every db&rine has been abufed, be~ 
caufe every doctrine has been mifunderft ood by fomebody. 
Chriftianity in this point is analogous to Judaifm, natural reli- 
gion, the bleffings of providence, and the whole created uni- 
Verfe. 

4 A 2 



( 556 ) 

their perdition will be never the lefs. The death of 
them, who were ingulphed in the deluge, was not the 
lefs painful for being general ; nor was the definition 
of the five cities by fire from heaven the lefs terrible to 
the unhappy fufferers, becaufe Lot and his family on- 
ly were faved. * 

4. One of the mo ft common evafions, which the 
wicked ufe to elude their converfion, is to confider 
damnation as a very diftant thing, and to oppofe to 
the idea the advantages, and fweetneflfes, which they 
find in finful prefent obje&s. " Let us enjoy (fay they) 
the time prefent, and not trouble ourfelves about fu- 
turity." I grant, when God is for us, this maxim of 
not troubling ourfelves about futurity is good, and 
neceffary to preferve a tranquillity in the mind : but 
it is only good becaufe it is wife, and it is only wife 
becaufe we therein commit the care of futurity to 
the providence of an all-merciful, and almighty Fa- 
ther, who watches over believers, and will fuffer no 
evil to befal them. But there is no greater folly 
than to be carelefs about futurity when God is a- 
gainfl us* With the help of this negligence, our 
punifhments increafe in proportion to our fins. Af- 
ter thy hardnefs, and impenitent hearty (fays the a- 
poftle) thou treafurejl up unto thyfelf wrath againjl 
the day of wrath, and revelation of the righUous judg- 
ment of God, f Sinners,you would havebeen athoufand 

* " Deluded people try to hide themfelvesiri the multitude.'' 
I know of no writer, who goes deeper into this illufion than the 
celebrated Voltaire. Againft all pofitive proofs brought by di- 
vines for Chriftianity, he conlbantly oppoies the multitudes, that 
live without it, the number and antiquity of the Chinefe, the Ja- 
panefe, the Mexicans, and fo on. This is the fort of writers of 
this fort, and a beggarly one it is ! 

f " Day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." 
The following plan for difcuffing this doctrine in the propofition- 
ai way, appears to me beautifully juft and cleat. ** Eccl, xi. 9. 



( 557 ) 



times lefs miferable, if God had fliortened your days, 
if he had done you the favour (if I may fpeak fo) of 
putting you to death in your cradle; had he fubjec- 
ted you to the pain of natural death, he would at 
lead have faved you from the accumulated torments, 
which the commiflion of fo many a&ual fins have de- 
ferred ; and the longer you live the more terrible will 
the judgments of divine juftice be; for as your days 
increafe, the number of your fins increafe too. * Be- 

Rejoice, O young man ! in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer 
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, 
and in the fight of thine eyes : but know thou, that for all thefe 
things God will bring^thee into judgment." Propofition I. There 
is a judgment to come. Prop. 2. Thou (halt be brought to 
judgment. Prop. 3. God will bring thee to judgment. Prop. 4, 
God will bring thee to judgment for thefe things, the ways of 
thy heart, &c. Prop. 5. God will bring thee to judgment for all 
thefe things. Prop. 6. All this is certain and evident-, for it is 
not think or believe : but know thou." 

This fermon was preached at the Abby Church in Weflmin- 
fter, before the houfe of Peers, Ocl. 1 oth, 1666, on a day of faf- 
ting and humiliation, on account of the late fire of London, by 
Seth Ward, Lord bifhop of Exeter ; and, although I praife the 
form of dilcuffion, as an example of the clear, yet far be it from 
me to applaud the fpirit, in which the application runs. 

* a Had ye died in your cradel, you would have been faved 
from accumulated torments." Various opinions concerning the 
future {fate of infants have been adopted. Some think, all dying 
in infancy are annihilated ; for, fay they, infants, being incapable 
of moral good and evil, are not proper objects of reward or pu- 
nifhment. Others fay, infants are mo ft of them, damned for A- 
dam's.fin. Some think, they (hare a fate fimilar to that of adults, 
a part are faved, and a part perifh. Others affirm all are Javed f 
becaufe all are immortal, and all are innocent. Others, perplex, 
ed with thefe divers fentiments, think bed to leave the fubject 
untouched. Cold comforts to parents, who bury their families 
in infancy ! The mod probable'opinion feems to be, that they are 
all faved through the merit of the mediator, with an everlafting 
falvation. This has nothing in it contrary to the perfections of 
God, or to any declarations of the holy fcriptures •, and it is 
highly agreeable to all thofe paflages, which affirm, " where fin 
l»th abounded, grace hath much more abounded. On thefe 



( 558 ) 

fides all this, who told you that your damnation was 
at the diftance you imagine ? The Lord once faid to 
Gain, If thou doejl evil ^ fin lieth at the door. This 
every finner ought to apply to himfelf, his crimes 
are at the door. Death follows fin, ftep by ftep, 
wherever it goes, and who can aflure you of twenty- 
four hours life ? " Converiion (you fay) is proper for 
old men ; but it is not proper for young people : let 
us pafs our juvenile years without perplexing our 
felves about thefe fcrupulous reflections, they will 
come in their feafon." No, they will never come ; 
for the infult you offer to the mercy of God, who 
calls you, by proudly putting him off till a more con- 
venient feafon^ will provoke him to withdraw when 
that feafon comes. You would fix God your time, 
you would ad: like fovereigns to him, you would 
have him go, when you fay go, and come, when you 
fay come : but you are not mafters. Do you think 
to deceive, and act: fraudulently with him ? Why, 
were it only for your hypocrify, you would render 
yourfelf eternally unworthy of converfion. 

5, The wicked have moreover ufed themfelves 
to another illufion, that is, to extenuate their fins, and 
to hide the enormity and number of them. " We 

principles, the death of Chrift faves more than the fall of Adam 
loft. 

Great objections have been made againft revelation on ac- 
count of its commanding the Ifraelites, at certain times, to flay 
the infants and fucklivgs of devoted cities : but thefe objections 
are founded on an unfair parallel between the government of God 
and juft civil governments among men. There are three diffe- 
rences between them, and an attention to thefe folves the diffi- 
culty. 1 . Magiftrates are guardians of life : but not authors of 
it, as God is. 2. Magiftrates cannot indemnify an infant for the 
lofs of its natural life : God can. 3. Magiftrates cannot- forefee 
whether the infant would be a bleffing or a curfe to fociety : God 
can. We cannot ufe too much caution in comparifons of this 
kind. 



( 559 ) 



are not (fay they) fo criminal as is imagined ; it is 
the cuftom of preachers to exaggerate every thing, 
and to over-act all. We love pleafure, it is true, we 
labour to acquire riches, we have pride and ambition, 
we would cut a good figure in the world, and what 
can be more natural than all this ? And where are the 
faints, who are not affected with the fame paflions ?" 
Foolifli fouls ! I fincerely pity you ! I own, were ye 
to give an account of your actions to me, or ? if you 
pleafe, to the moft fevere, and difcerning of all men, 
yea, were ye to give an account of your lives to an 
angel or to all the angels of heaven together, per- 
haps you might palliate your crimes, no doubt you 
would have art, and ad drefs enough to conceal, atleaft 
one half ofyourfins, and todiminifh conf}derat>ly thq 
enormity of the other half: but neither men, nor an- 
gels are to enquire into your lives ; you muft appear 
before the tribunal of an all-feeing God, before whom 
there is no vail fo thick, which he does not penetrate, 
and in comparifon of whom the heavens are unclean^ 
and the angels unwife. Whither will ye go jrom 
bis fpirit, or whither will ye flee from his prefence f 
If you afcend up into heaven he is there, if you make 
your bed in hell he is there, if you take the wings of 
the mornings and dwell in the uttermoji parts of the 
fea, even there fhall his hand lead you, and his right 
hand hold you. If you fay, Surely the darknefs fiall 
cover me, be affured, the night fhall be light about 
you know that the darknefs bideth not from him, but 
the night fhinetb as the day, the darknefs and the light 
are both alike to him. It is an eafy thing to flatter 
one's felf, and to declare one's felf righteous, by com- 
paring one's felf with thieves, and high-way robbers : 
but when a man compares himfelf with the unfpot- 
ted purity of God^ when God's immortal hand ap- 



( 560 ) 



plies the rule of his law to the heart, the holieft mull 
become nothing, and fay to him, Unto thee, 0 
Lord, belongeth righteoufness, but unto me Jhame, 
and confufion of face. Ifthou y Lord, fhouldjl mark 
iniquity, 0 Lord who can Jiand? My righteoufnefs 
before thee is as filthy rags. Now if this be the lan- 
guage of a holy man, — if the righteous fcarcely are 
saved, where Jhall the ungodly, and finner appear ? * 
But, to fpeak plainly, all thefe are only vain pre- 
tences, the falfliood of which even the wicked ac- 
knowledge ; the only reafon why they avoid conver- 
fion is that ardent love, that obftinate attachment, 
which they have to vice. This is the true caufe, and 
all the reft are only, if they would fpeak honeftly, 
all the reft are only vain pretences. The avaritious 
is not ignorant that an intenfe, furious love to the 

* The iviched extenuate their ftns. There is a fine paffage to 
this purpofe in the thirty-fixth pfalm. The tranfgreflion of 
the wicked faith within my heart, that there is no fear of God 
before his eyes •, for he flattereth himfelf in his own eyes until 
his iniquity be found to be hateful." Abundance of literal criti- 
cifm has been made on this verfe, a great many difficulties {tarr- 
ed, and all learnedly run down, one fide rejecting what another 
applauded. It mould feem, there is an art of grinding and pul- 
verizing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, pra£tifed with in- 
finite labour, and tending to nobody's edification. This verfe 
has given ample fcope to expofitors of this fort *, and, after all, 
it gives no tolerable fenfe without admitting that rule of expofi- 
tion, which goes on the idiom of a language 3 and gives rather the 
fenfe of the whole than of each component part. " I have made 
my own obfervations on that wicked man, Saul, and I have ima- 
gined, he is an atheift. I obferve, although he commits many 
crimes, for which, did he fear God, he would always blufh, yet 
he never blufhes till his iniquities appear hateful in the eyes of 
his fellow creatures. He even affects to be a good man, and 
wears the mafk till it cements with his face, accounting himfelf 
as good as any other man, till fomebody detects his vices, and ex- 
pofes him to fhame ; and this is the common condition of almoft 
ail bad men," This feems not an improbable fenfe of the pafe 
fage. 



( 561 ) 



world is odious to God, and men. The ambitious 
knows the gofpel of Jefus Chrift calls us to far more 
noble dignities than any the world can offer, he 
knows that his ambition is incompatible with that 
chriftian moderation, which religion ordains. The 
voluptuous is not ignorant that his debaucheries and 
exceiTes are directly contrary to the profeffion of the 
gofpel. In general, all finners know very well that 
they do wrong, and they know alfo that by fuch 
means they draw down upon themfelves the wrath, 
and curfe of God. Yet, however clear their know- 
ledge of thefe awful truths may be, when the idea of 
riches prefents itfelf to the covetous, when that of 
honours tempts the ambitious when that of 
pleafure flares at the debauchee, fo powerfully are 
their paffions touched by thefe objects, that they are 
infenfible to every thing elfe, all their reafon evapo- 
rates, and vanifhes before thefe dear objects, the mind 
is for one thing, the heart for another, and in this 
combat between judgment and affection, the heart 
always obtains the conqueft. Now, I afk, is not this 
1 love to fin the greateft folly in the world ? when oa 
the one hand it renders us incapable of enjoying 
ourfelves, and diihonours us in our own eyes, de- 
priving us of one of the mo ft fweet, and valuable of 
all our bleffings, which is a juft efteem of ourf elves, 
the joy of being able to approve our own conduct: 
and on the other hand defiroys us, for it draws upon 
us the condemnation of God, and conducts us a great 
pace towards thofe eternal torments, which he has 
prepared for the wicked. * 

* « Sin diihonours us in our own eyes." Perhaps one caufe 
of much unprofitable preaching is an indiftincl: notion of the 
dignity -of human nature. Confider man phyfically, and too 
great things cannot be laid of his dignity, 44 he is fearfully and 
wonderfully made." But view him morally, and he is :< fearfully 

4 b 



( 562 ) 



Pafllng on to the fecond proportion, (that the 
practice of good works, and an holy and religious life 

and wonderfully vile." It is eafy to fee how dangerous a miftake 
is here •, for the remedies we apply will always be fuited to the 
ideas we form of the maladies we would remove. Hence on 
the one hand light and gentle reproofs of the moft enormous 
crimes, and hence on the other, thofe weighty and powerful dil- 
courfes, which are fo much admired, becaufe fo much felt. Mr 
Claude's feven obfervations might be all exemplified from the 
greateft preachers amongft his own countrymen ; but I will men- 
tion only a few. 

Our author's laft observation, that depravity of heart, and not 
defect of understanding, emboldens numbers in fin, is the 
ground of the following fermon. 

Bp. Maflillonon John vii. 27. compofes his exordium of this 
thought, that the greateft part of thole, who fay they are infi- 
dels, are not fo. He obfer ves " that, if the fool fays there is no 
God, it is in his heart he fays fo ; that is, it is the language of 
defire, he wifhes there was none." He adds, " to be a debauchee 
and admit a hell is to be a novice in debauchery, the libertine 
muit therefore, to keep himfelf in countenance, affect to deny 
it." He concludes with this fine remark, " Religion would 
have no enemies, if itfelf were not an enemy to vice," Pour le 
mardi de la iv. fem. Car. iv. 

MrClaude s 2d obf. that fmners on certain occafions magnify 
mercy, is the maxim on which, I prefume, Maffillon compofed 
the fermon entitled Vain confidence. The text is Luke xxiv. 21. 
He obferves " that expecting to be crowned without warring a 
good warfare is an error the moft univerfal, and the moft efta- 
bliflied among profeffing chriftians, though it has no authority 
from Jefus Chrift 5" and alluding to his text, adds, " when the 
Lord appears a fecond time upon earth, he will find many infi- 
del-difciples, who will fay to him, we trufted." Lundi de 
pafques. Car. iii. 

MrC's 5th remark, on confidering pumfhment as a diftant 
thing, is the ground of Saurin's fermon on Eccl. viii. 11, 12. 
<c I am ftruck with horror (fays he) when I confider this difpo- 
fition in its true point of light ; it feems to me as if it were im- 
pollible, except to monfters, who have eradicated not only eve- 
ry feed of piety and religion from their hearts, but even every 

degree of reaion and humanity. But let us rend the vails, 

with which we ufually conceal ourfelves from ourfelves, let us 
dive into thefe hearts deceitful above all things, and desperately 
<wicked> and we fhall find that this difpofition, which, at firlt 
fight, makes us fhudder with horror, is one of thofe with which 
we are moft familiar. Were we com inced that God {had the 



( 563 ) 



is the principal end, which the gofpel propofes, and 
the principal character of a true chriftian) you rauft 
firft eftabliih it by folid fcripture proofs. As — The 
grace of God that bringeth falvation hath appeared 
to all men, teaching us that denying ungodlinefs and 
worldly lufts, wejhould live fobcrly, righteoufly, and 
godly in thisprefent world. Tit. ii. i I," 1 2 — This is 
a faithful faying, and thefe things I will that thou 
affirm conftantly, That they, which have believed in 
God, might be careful to maintain good w orks.' Tit. 
iii. — The fame apoftle elfewhere, diftinguifhing true 
from falfe profeifors, fays, For many walk of whom 
J have told you often, and now tell you even weep- 
ing. That they are the enemies of the cross of Cbrift, 
whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, 
and who glory in their shame, who mind earthly 
things : but our conversation is in heaven, from 
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Je- 
sus. Phil. iii. — We are his workmanship, says the 
same apostle, created in Christ Jefus unto good 
works, which God hath before ordained that we 
should walk in them. The whole fixth of Romans 
is written to mew that the true end of the doctrine 
of grace is to fanftify men. What Jhall we fay then ? 
Shall we continue in fin, that grace may abound ? 
God forbid ! How fall we that are dead to fin, 
live any longer therein. Know ye not, that fo many 
of us as were baptised into Jefus Chrijl were baptised 
into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by 

formidable defign of plunging us into the depths of hell on the 
firft a£i of rebellion, who is he, who is he, who would bav< j the 
madnefs to be a rebel ? Why then are we rebels ? The wife man 
tells us, i( becaufe fentence again!! an evil work is not executed 
r^dily." Sur le delai que Dieu accorde aux pecheurs. 
torn. vii. 

4 B 2 



( 564 ) 



baptifm into death, that like as Chriji was raifed up 
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even jo we 
alfo Jhould walk in newnefs of life. &c. * Again, 
in his epiftie to the Galatians, having ftrongly de- 
fended that gofpel liberty, which Jefus Chrift has ac- 
quired by his blood for us, he prevents an abufe, 
which might be made of it, by adding, Brethren y 
ye have been called to liberty, only use not liberty 
for an occasion to the flesh— -Walk in the spirit, and 
ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh— for the flesh 
lusieth against the spirit, and the spirit against the 
flesh, and these are contrary theone to the otber—Noiv 
the works of the flesh are these, adultery fornication, 
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft ha-* 
tred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, 
heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, 

* " We are buried .with him by baptifm into death." Almoft. 
all commentators allow, that this paiTage is defcriptive of the 
mode and end of primitive baptifm. The mode was that of im- 
merficn, and the end or defign of immerfmg the difciple of Chrift 
was to reprefent his faith in a redeemer, who died, was buried, 
and rofe again, and his own prcferiing to die to fin, and to rife 
into newnefs of life. 

jSJow, to a man, who allows that baptifm was originally ad- 
roiniflered to adults by immeruon, the modern baptifrs only 
propofe one modeft queftion. If the founders of the chriftian 
church adminiftered baptifm fo, and if no authenticated religious 
legiflators have arifen fmce, by what. authority is it now admmi- 
itered to infants by fprinkling, feeing fuch an adminift ration 
changes both fubjecl; and mode ? "The baptifm of John, whence 
was it ? From heaven or of men ? Matt. xxi. 25. All, who pre- 
tend to defend that innovation, infant fprinkling, do but trifle, 
except they go -to the true ground of the debate, and either prove 
— that infant fprinkling is ibmewhere appointed by Chrift our 
legiflator— or that the authority of Chriii is not necelTary to the 
eftablilhmeni of a pofitive inftitute— or that fome perfon has 
ihice appeared veiled with fuch authority as Chrift himfelf ex- 
ercifed. Circumcifion, Abraham's covenant, Greek particles, 
and a thoufand more fuch topics, no more regard the fubjecc 
than the firit verfe of the firft book cf Chronicles, Adam, Sheih* 
Enojh* 



( 565 ) 

and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have 
also told you in time pajl, that they, which do fuch 
things, fh all not inherit the kingdom of God. But the 

fruit of the spirit is love,joy,peace, long~fuffering,gen- 
tlenefs,goodnefSj faith, meeknefs, temperance, againjl 

fuch there is no law. And they that are ChrijTs have 
crucified the fiefh,with the affeclionsand lufls* We muft 

* " Chriftians have crucified the flefh." 5 St Paul lays down 
in this period a beautiful model of the manner of difcumng dif- 
ficult and abftrufe queftions in theology. Every queffion is fub- 
ject to two fciences, philofophy and theology. Philofbphy ex- 
plains it; theology improves it. If philofophycannot compre- 
, hend .the mode, and yet allows the fad, theology does not al- 
ter the (late of the cafe: but taking the fact allowed, and leaving 
conjectures and debates concerning the reafons of it, applies iu 
felf to an improvement of the whole cafe to moral purpofes. 
This is building on fure ground. 

The cafe before us is of this kind. The fenfes of my body 
rebel againft the deliberate reafonings of my mind, or, as the 
apoftle words it, " the fleih lufteth againft the fpirit." How is 
it confident with the wifdom and goodnefs of my creator to put 
my reafon to fuch a fevere and conftant trial ? This is a difncult 
queftion. Let us fee how the apoftle handles it. 

i. Obferve, the queltion is not the invention of modern phi- 
lofophers. They otten boaft more than they ought of fuperior 
fagacity. Their predeceflbrs, pagan philofophers knew this ob- 
jection; it was agitated in the apoftle' s days. He himfelf 
knew it. 

_ 2. St Paul allows the fact, " The flefh lufteth againft the 
fpirit, fo that ye cannot do the things that ye would." 

3. He expofes the difrnal confequences of yielding to the 
current. In this world ignorance produces idolatry, avarice 
witchcraft, pride variance ; arid in a future Mate per fens under 
the power of their pailions will be excluded from " the kingdom 
of God." 

4. He oppofes againft this fad condition religion, that fpiritual 
religionchriftianity, including Jove, joy, peace, and fo on ; a 

religion that gives energy to the dictates of right reafon, and 
teaches it how to obtain an .empire over the fenfes. 

5. He obferves, that, difficult as it might appear to realize 
this fy item, facts proved, fome had realized it, they that are 
ChrijVs have crucified the flejh. 

6. He propofes them as an example to others; e f This I fay s 



( 566 ) 

here repeat almost all the whole New Testament 
if w T e would particularly mention all thepassages 
which oblige us to good works, for the whole 
book enforces obedience. It is sufficient to 
speak of our Lords divine and admirable words, 
Let your light so shine before men, that, seeing your 
good works, they may glorify your Father, which, 
is in heaven. Indeed by a general view of the 
end, for which Jesus Christ came into the world, 
you will see he came to destroy the works of the 
devil. The works of the devil are principally 
two, sin, and punishment. Let us not imagine, 
that Jesus Christ came into the world to take 
away punishment only, and to leave sin trium- 
phant ; he came to destroy both. I will even 
venture to say, he came to destroy sin rather 
than sorrow. Suffering concerns only the crea- 
ture ; but sin concerns the creator as well as 
the creature ; it dishonours the one, and dis- 
tresses the other. Punishment indeed makes 
man miserable ; but at the same time it glori- 
fies divine justice : but sin is equally contrary 
to the glory of God and the dignity of man. 
The principal end of Christ's coming upon earth 
was to destroy sin. Is it likely, think ye, that 
Jesus Christ would have quitted his mansion of 
glory, and descended to this earth to acquire an 
impunity for criminals, leaving them immersed 

then, Walk in the fpirit, and ye {hall not fulfil the luft of the 
flefh. 

This is a beautiful model of the apoflle's method, and nothing 
can be objected againft it. It did not lie on him, as an apoftie 
of Chrift, to explain the difficulty, that he left to philofophers : 
it only became him to improve an allowed facl: to a pious pur- 
pofe. This mode of preaching would fhut many a brangle out 
cf the church. 



C 567 ) 

in sensuality and sin ? Is it likely, that he can 
hold communion with people in rebellion, and 
profaneness ? Is it possible for him, the holy 
Jesus, to join his spirit to our flesh, his purity 
to our profanity, his holiness to our iniquities ? 
This would be saying he came to unite things, 
which cannot unite, and which are naturally 
and necessarily incompatible. One of the most 
imbittered enemies of our religion reproached 
the primitive christians, that their Jesus came 
into the world to make the most horrible and 
dreadful societies, for (said he) he calls sinners, 
and not the righteous, so that the body he came 
to assemble is a body of profligates, separated 
from good people, amongst whom they were 
heretofore mixed ; he has rejected all the good, 
and collected all the bad in the world. False 
and cruel accusation ! Origen, in the name of 
the whole church, solidly refuted it. " True, 
says he, our Jesus came to call sinners : but it 
was to repentance ; he assembles the wicked : 
but it is to convert them into new men, or rather 
to change them into angels. We come to him 
covetous, he makes us liberal; unjust and ex- 
tortioners, and he makes us equitable ; lascivi- 
ous, and he makes us chaste ; violent, and pas- 
sionate, and he makes us meek ; impious and 
profane, and he makes us religious/' This is 
the true effect of commuion with Jesus Christ, 
it transforms us into his image, and this trans- 
formation is so essential, that if it does not ap- 
pear in a man, we are obliged to conclude, he is 
not in communion with this great Saviour. But 
besides that holiness, love, and equity are inse- 
parable from communion with Jesus Christ con- 



( 568 ) 



sidered in himself, I add, they are also from 
communion with our heavenly Father, to which 
communion with Jesus Christ leads us. As he 
came into the world in the quality of a media- 
tor, he called men to himself only to unite them 
to God ; for which reason he said, / am the ivay, 
the truth, and the life ; no man cometh to the Fa- 
ther but by me : and elsewhere, Neither pray I 
for these alone t but jor them also, which shall believe 
on me through their word, that they all may be one 
as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they 
also may be one in us. But how is it possible that 
God should hold communion with people, who 
live in sin ? Thou art not a God, (says the pro- 
phet) that hast pleasure in wickedness, neither 
shall evil dwell zvith thee. The joolish shall not 
stand in thy sight, thou hatest all workers of ini- 
quity. It is evident then that the religion of 
Jefus Chrift, which brings us into communion with 
God, brings us alio at the fame time into true holi- 
nefs, without which communion with God is not at- 
tainable. It is inconceivable, that, while we remain 
immerfed in fenfuality, and fin, we can be the tem- 
ples of the Holy Ghoft, as the fcripture fays true be- 
lievers are. Can the Holy Ghoft dwell in a man 
without producing effects of his power and grace ? 
Can he dwell idly in a man ? Can he pofTefs his 
heart and affections, and yet leave his affections en- 
flaved to fin ? It is with the holy Spirit as with fire 5 
which cannot be any where without heat ; or, if 
you pleafe, as the fun, which cannot be above the 
horizon without giving light ; That which is bom of 
the fiefo is flejh, fays our Saviour, and that which is 
born of the jpirit is fpirit. With the fame view the 
apoille tells the Romans, They, thai are after the 



( 569 ) 

Jlesb, do mind the things of the flesh, but they, thai 
are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. It is then 
im.poffible to be a true Chriftian, or to have com- 
munion with Jefus Chrift, unlefs we partake of his 
fpirit; If any man have not the spirit of Christ, 
fays S. Paul, he is none of his. Because ye are sons 9 
he fays elfewhere, God hath sent forth the spirit of 
his son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father* From 
all which it clearly follows, that an unfanctified man 
has not the fpirit of Chrift, is not in communion 
with him, does not belong to his myftical body, is 
not a true believer, in a word, is not a real chriftian. 
Holinefs is an infeparable companion, and a necef* 
fary effe& of the gofpel, and it is alfo an infallible 
character or mark of a found convert. * 

* Holinefs is the mark of a found convert. A mark is a token 
by which any thing is known : a mark of converfion is fuch a 
character as diftinguifhes a true convert from a hypocrite. Pi* 
ous perfons are naturally defirous of afcertaining the truth and 
genuinenefs of their piety, and divines lay down many figns, 
tokens, or marks, by which they may be affifted in their enquiry. 
The unhappinefs is, each of thefe marks may be counterfeited, 
fo that there is ufually as much difficulty in afcertaining the 
goodnefs of the mark as in making out the truth of that faith, 
which is to be proved by it. We will take the liberty to make 
a few obfervations on this fubje£t. 

1. Some lay down fpurious marks. Thus one. "Thebeft 
men cannot be fure of themfelves until they have been proved. 
— But to fee a good man, with Job, holding a dreadful difeafe 
no evil in comparifon of letting go his integrity, is a noble trial 
and inftance of juftifying faith.'' This fermon is " Againffc 
the dangerous and fmful practice of inoculation. The text is 
Job xi. 7. and according to our preacher's reafoning, to be in- 
oculated is to let go integrity, and confequently to die of the 
fmall-pox in a natural way, through a dread of offending God 
by being inoculated, is a mark of juilifying faith.— Mafley's fer. 
at S. Andrew's, Holbourne, July, 1722. 

2. Some lay down arbitrary marks of their own devifing, ««- 
fcriptural if not fl«fa'fcriptural. The Athanafian creed affirms, 
Except every one do keep the catholic faith whole and undented,, 

4 c 



( 510 ) 

But, if holinefs be a neceffary confequence of the 
gofpel, it is no lefs true that the gofpel is an inex- 
hauftible fource of motives to holinefs. I pafs over 
its precepts, and rules of conduct, which give us an 
idea of holinefs in a manner fo lively, fo beautiful, 
and fo full of charms, that it alone is a powerful 
motive to obedience. Nor will I flop to obferve, 
that the nature of vice is reprefented in the gofpel fo 
fully, and the horror of it fo well defcribed, that we 
muft needs hold it in abhorrence. It mall be fuffi- 
cient now to remark to you, and (if may venture to 
fay fo) to make you feel by your own experience, that 
nothing can be conceived more powerful than the 
reafons, by which the chriftian religion enforces the 
neceffary practice of good works. All its myfteries 
point at this. All the moft grand, and moft mar- 
vellous things it teacheth, regard this. All its doc- 
trines are fo many bonds, bonds the ftrongeft, to 

without doubt he fhall perifh everlaftingly. "Where has Jefus 
Chrift faid fo ? 

3. Some lay down general marks, as — that chriftians believe 
the truth — love the people of God— defire to do good and fo on. 
The queftion in all thefe returns, who are the people of God ? 
What is the truth ? &c. 

4. Some lay down precarious marks, as — that good men love 
prayer— rejoice in religious ordinances— pity and relieve the 
poor— and fo on. All thefe may be found in a believer at one 
time, and thro' the infirmity of his nature may be abfent at a- 
nother. Should he always judge of his ftate therefore by a pre- 
fent frame, he might, as a good divine ufed to fay, look for the 
time on a fun dial when the fun did not mine. 

Mr Claude along with all our beft divines, takes the good 
man altogether, if I may fpeak fo, and forms a judgment of his 
ftate by the general habitual courfe of his life. In like manner 
we fay of one man, he enjoys a good ftate of health, of another 
he is very rich, of a third, he is a very cheerful companion ; yet 
the firft has been now and then fick, the fecond has fome- 
iimes wanted money, and the third has had days of gloom and 
ihade, Holinefs then is the general character of a good man. 



( 571 ) 

bind our hearts to the obedience of faith, or, to ufe 
the language of S. Paul, they are fo many weapons of 
war, mightj through God, to caji down imaginations 
and every high things and to bring into captivity e~ 
very thought to the obedience of Cbrifl. 

The gofpel confecrates to holy ufes, even what 
the light of nature teacheth us — as, that God is our 
creator, who at the beginning called us into exiftence 
by his power, and made us what we are — that he is 
our preferver, who by a perpetual influence fupports 
us, and prevents our falling back into non-entity — 
that it is his providence, which governs all the 
whole univerfe, particularly watches over us, and fur- 
nifties whatever his goodnefs and- wifdom judge need- 
ful for us. What can more forcibly incline us to a 
practice of obedience than thefe important truths if 
well confidered ? For what obligations have we to 
God fmce he is our creator who gave us life, and be- 
ing ? Ought not we to devote all to him, from whom 
we received all ? And if we owe him all, mould not 
we be monfters rather than men to diihonour his 
creation, to infult his bounty, to rebel againft his 
laws, and to have his glory always before our eyes ? 
But, perhaps, creation may appear to you a diftant 
benefit, which muft needs have loft much of its va- 
lue by the great number of ages, which have expired 
from the beginning of the world till now ; or per- 
haps by the many years, which have palfed fmce 
your birth. Surely, were this the cafe, a favour, 
which bellowed on us all we are, and all we have, 
however long fmce it was conferred, ought not to be 
forgotten on that account. But this is not true, for he, 
who created man at the beginning, he, who brought 
us into being, he it is, who ftill preferves us ; and 
whofe influence is ftill neceifary to our exiftence ; 

4 C 2 



( 572 ) 

fhould he fufpend it but one moment we mould be 
no more. Every day, every moment then does God 
renew the favour, or, to fpeak more properly, every 
day, every moment he increafes the number of his 
favours. David, fpeaking of the Meffiah, fays, thou 
haft the dew of thy youth , from the womb of the 
morning. * And in another place, on a different 
fubjecl:, day unto day utter eth fpeech^ night unto night 
jheweth knowledge. But we may fay of God's 
wonderful prefervation of us, that our life, our mo- 
tion, our being, come every morning, not from the 
womb of the mornings but from the immortal fources 
of the goodnefs, and power of God. One of his fa- 
vours uttereth fpeech to another, fmce the moments 
are not more clofely joined together than his favours 
are. Yet, more than all this, he adds his providen- 
tial care, he watches over us while we fleep, he thinks 
about vis when we forget him, he defends, and pro- 
teds us when we do not fee him, he nourifhes, and 
clothes our bodies, he furnifhes matter for our thoughts 
and acYions, he numbers the very hairs of our heads, 
and not one of them falls without him. O power- 
ful motives to love, and obedience ! Shall it be faid s 
that God preferves ungrateful and rebellious crea-* 
tures, who do nothing but affront him ? Shall it be 
faid, his fun chears us in the fame manner as it does 
ferpents, and vipers, and that it influences us as it does 
envenomed dragons ? Shall we keep none of his 
commandments, while he keeps each, the leaft hair 
of our heads ? Alas ? mail we be fuch miferable 

* " In holinefs very beautiful, more than the aurora, or womb 
of the morning, when {he is ready to bring forth the fun, and then 
|t is a noble figure toexprefs the glorious beauty of God's ways 0 " 
Reynolds on the place Q 



( 573 ) 



wretches as to abuie his own benefits to his disho- 
nour ? 

But all thefe motives, however great and power- 
ful, are nothing in companion of thofe, which the 
gofpel does not borrow from the light of reafon, but 
takes from its own fource, I mean fuch as come from 
fupernatural revelation. Thefe motives are almoft 
all comprehended in Jefus Chrift, and in the myfte- 
ries of his oeconomy, and they are fuch as muft af- 
fect every foul, which is not, I do not fay hard and 
infenfible, but entirely dead in fin, or poffefTed by the 
devil ; for, in one word, that God after all our rebel- 
lions, and all our crimes, mould yet be reconciled to 
us, that he mould give his fon, that he mould give 
him to be fiefh and blood like us, that he mould give 
him to be our head, our brother, and our example, 
that he mould give him to die for us, to die the moft 
bloody, the moft ignominious, and the moft cruel 
death, that could be conceived, is not this love and 
mercy worthy of eternal praife ? And what horrible 
ingratitude muft it be, if after all this we mould be 
yet capable of wilfully finning againft a God fo good^ 
and of counting the blood of fuch a covtnant an un~ 
holy thing P * 

* Motives taken from revelation. Thus Saurin. u Above all en- 
ter into his fanctuary, iix your meditation on the incarnate word* 
comprehend, if your mind be capable of comprehending, what 
it is for a God to " become of no reputation, and to take upon 
him the form of a fervant." Confider the majefty of God, ap- 
proach his throne, behold his fiery flaming eyes, fee the power, 
and majefty, which fill his fancluary, view the armies of heaven 
miniftering to his will, and thus, if poflible, form fome idea of 
thefupreme being. Think that this God united himfelf to mor- 
tal flefh, in order to fuffer for us whatever the fury of men, and 
the rage of devils could invent. I know not, my brethren, what 
impreffions thefe objects make on you, for my part, I own, it' 
any thing could render chriftianity doubtful or problematical to 
me, it would be what it tells us on this myltery. I own, I need 



( 574 ) 



After this, fome moral coafequences may be drawn 
from the truth you have proved. As firft, that chri- 
ftianity is difhonoured when the outward profeffion 
of it is attended with a bad life, for it proves how 
little efficacy religion has had upon us, and it gives 
occafion to the profane to infult the chriftian religion, 
and to impute to it the vices of its profeffors. Our 
conversations, fays Tertullian, blufh when compared 
with our fentiments. St. Paul fpeaks ftronger ftill, 
the name of God, fays he, is blafphemed among the 
Gentiles through you. 2. You may alio mew how 
they deceive themfelves, who, without fanclification 
and good works, imagine themfelves chriftians. They 

at leaft all my faith, and all the authority of him, who fpeaks in 
our fcriptures, to perfuade me that God would abafe himfelf in 
this manner. But if amidft the darknefs with which this myf- 
tery is covered, I fpy a fmall glimmering light to reduce it in fome 
fort to my fize, this glimmering ray difcovers to me the punifh- 
ments, which God will inflict on thofe, who defpife fo great a fa- 
crifice. After this, the doctrine of eternal punilhments feem to 
have nothing contrary to divine juftice. No, this burning lake 
with its fmoke, this eternity with its abyfs, thefe devils with their 
rage, this hell with its horrors, have nothing, methmks, too ri- 
gorous for men who have u trodden under foot the Son of God, 
counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and crucified 
afrefh the Lord of glory." Saur.fer* stir les tour mens de Penfen 
torn. ii. 

How awfully true is the following complaint of the good Fe- 
nelon to his God. " O God ! Men fleep in thy tender, and pa- 
ternal bofom, and full of deceitful dreams are infenfible of the 
mighty hand that holds them Wert thou a barren, weak, and 
inanimate body, f ch as a fading flower, a palling river, a decay- 
ing houfe, a piclure which is only an aflemblage of colours to 
itrike the fancy, or an ufelefs metal to dazzle the eye, they would 
perceive thee, and would foolifhly attribute to thee the power of 
giving them pleafure, though indeed inanimate things, which 
have no pleafmg fenfations, can communicate none. Of pleafure 
thou art the only fource. Wert thou only a grofs, brittle, and 
inanimate being, a mafs without life, the fhadow of a being, thy 
vain nature would bufy their vanity, thou wouldeft be an objecr, 
proportioned to their bafe, and brutal minds." Oeuvres pbilos 
torn. i. 176. tcm/ii. 155. 



( 575 ) 

are by no means chriflians ; they fcandaloufly bear a 
name, which they have rafhly ufurped, but which in- 
deed does not belong to them; they are baflards and 
not fons, or rather they are born of flefh and blood but 
not of God: but true chriftians, according to St John, 
are born of God, and not of the will ofthefefj, nor of 
the will of man. 3. The vaineft of all hopes is to 
imagine that we may be faved by the bare profef- 
fion of chriftianity, without any regard to good 
works. I own the chriftian religion gives life ; but 
it is only to thofe, who are fandified. Ton fjall 
live, fays the apoftle, but on what condition ? if ye 
mortify the deeds of the body. * The bare outward 
profeffion, far from faving men, will only aggravate 
their condemnation, according to this inviolable 
maxim of Jefus Chrift, Thai fervant, which knew 
his Lord's will, arid prepared not himfelf, neither did 
according to his will, fhall be beaten with many 
flripes. In another place, defcribing the form of the 
laft judgment, he fays, many will come to him in 
that day, faying, Lord, Lord, have we not prophefied 
in thy name, and in thy name have cafl out devils, 
and in thy name have done many wonderful works ? 
But he will prof e/s unto them, I ?iever knew you, de- 
part frotn me, ye that work iniquity. Depart into 
ever la/ling fire, pre pared for the devil and his angels* 
Finally you may add reproofs, and exhortations. 

* " Conditions of falvation." Our author does not mean to 
eftablifh the popifh notion of merit, when he calls holinefs a 
condition, he only means that it is (as they call it) caufa fine 
qua non \ that is, that good works are necelTary to falvation, not 
to justification. In this he agrees with fcripture, Matt. x. 22. 
Heb. x 36. xii. 4, Rom. x. 10. So that he is to be underfiood 
here in [perfedl confiftency with what he fays elfewhere on 
Phil. ii. 13. They are, fays one, the way to the throne, net 
the price of the crown. Via regm^ non causa re^nandi. — Ber- 
nard. 



{ 5ia ) 



It muft not be thought, that thefe four ways of 
difcufTmg texts are fo heterogeneous, that they can 
never be mixed together ; on the contrary, there are 
a great many texts, in which it will be neceflary to 
make ufe of two, or three, and fometimes even of all 
the four ways. When a text is explained^ it will be 
very often needful to make fome obfervations alfo, 
and the matter will require as long an application. 
Sometimes to explain a text well, the matter muft be 
reduced into many propofitions^ as we have obferved 
on thefe words, It is God that worketh in you to 
will and to do of his good pleafure. In like manner, 
when the method of ohfcrvation is ufed, it very often 
happens that fome part of the text needs explaining^ 
and fo of the reft. * Thefe four ways muft be dif« 
tinguimed for two reafons. ift. Becaufe they are 
very different from one another: to explain, to make 
obfervations, to apply, and to reduce to propofitions, 

* €l Methods of difcuffion may be mixed.'* Mr Saurin, on 
Heb. x, 5, &c. « Sacrifice and offering thou wouldft not, but 
a body haft thou prepared me : in burnt offerings and facrifices 
for fin thou haft had no pleafure. Then faid I, Lo, I come (in 
the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O 
God," firfl confiders the words as proceeding from ChrifTs 
mouth, and fecondly as the language of his people. In the firft 
part he fays, there are three things neceffary. ift, Our text is a 
citation, it muft be verified. 2. It is difficult, it muft be ex- 
plained. 3. It is one of the molt eilential truths of religion, it 
muft be folidly proved. 

Mr Dumont ufes very agreeably proportion and application 
on 1 Cor. xiii. 9. He difcufles the fubjecl in two fermons. In 
the firft he fays, " I will explain this humbling truth in two 
propofitions exprefTed in the text; the one, that God has not 
judged it neceffary to reveal himfelf fully to us, we know but 
in part. The other, that our knowledge of what God has been 
pleafed to reveal is very imperfect, we prophefy but in part.'' In 
the fecond fermon he applies the fubjecl: to ufe, and teaches a 
leffon of faith, humility, meeknefs, refignation, diligence, dead- 
nefs to the world, &c— Serm. par Dumont, fur 1' imperf.de 
nos ConnoiiTances. 



( 577 ) 

are four very different ways of treating a text. A 
compofer, then, muft not confound them together : 
but he muft obferve the difference well, that he may 
ufe them properly. 2d. Becaufe it is cuftomary to 
give the difcuffion of a text the name of the prevail- 
ing manner of handling it. We call that the way 
of explication, in which there is more explication than 
obfervation. We not only call that the way of ob- 
fervation, which has only obfervations, but that in 
which there is more obfervation than explication, or 
applcati n; and fo of the reft. 



CHAP. IX. 

Of the Exordium. 

HPHE Exordium is that part, in which the 
minds of the hearers are prepared, and a na- 
tural and easy way opened to the discussion. * 
But first, a question presents itself (on which 
opinions are much divided) whether Exordiums 
be necessary ? or even whether they be not in 
all cases quite useless, and in some hurtful? 
Whether it would not be better entirely to omit 
them, to begin immediately with the connection 
of the text with preceding verses, pass to the di- 
vision, and so enter on the discussion? There 
are many of this opinion, and their reasons are, 
1st. That there appears too much artifice in an 

* " The Exordium prepares the hearers for the difcuffion." 
1 Mr Claude's rules for Exordiums are perfectly agreeable to thofe 
of ancient orators, and moft likely taken from them, to whofe 
directions nothing Can be added. 

4 D 



( 578 I 

Exordium, which is more likely to dissipate than 
to conciliate the attention of your hearers. " it 
is evident (say they) to the auditors, that you 
design to come insensibly, and by a kind of art- 
ful manoeuvre to your matter, and to lead your 
hearers almost imperceptibly to it ; but this 
seems a finesse altogether unworthy of the gos- 
pel, and contrary to that sincerity, ingenuous- 
ness, gravity, and simplicity, which should reign 
in the pulpit. Indeed, when a wise hearer per- 
ceives you design to deceive him, he conceives 
a strong prejudice against you, and that preju- 
dice will certainly be hurtful in the following 
part of the discourse/' 

They add in the second place, that " Exor- 
diums are extremely difficult to compose, and juft- 
ly stiled the crosses of preachers. Should some 
small advantage be gained by Exordiums, it 
would not be of consequence enough to induce 
us to compose them. In so doing we should 
waste a part of our time and strength, which 
might be much more usefully employed/' 

They say thirdly, that " the principal end pro- 
posed in an Exordium is either to conciliate the 
hearers affection, or to excite his attention, or 
to prepare the way to the matters to be treated 
of ; but all these are to be supposed. As to their 
affection, pastors, who preach to their own 
flocks, ought not to doubt that. We speak to 
christians, to persons who consider us as the mi- 
nisters of Jesus Christ, whom consequently they 
respect and love. As to attention, it ought also 
to be supposed ; not only because pulpit-subjects 
are divine and salutary to men, but also because 
such only come to public worship as desire to 



( 579 ) 



hear the word of God attentively: and indeed, 
if the auditors have not that disposition of them- 
selves, an Exordium cannot give it them. Such 
a disposition is an effect of a man's faith, and 
piety, and it is not to be thought, that an Exor- 
dium of eight or ten periods can convert the 
worldly and profane, or give faith and piety to 
those, who have them not. As to what regards 
the introducing of the matter to be treated of, 
the bare reading of the text sufficiently does 
that; for, according to the common way "of 
preaching, the text contains the subject to be dis- 
cussed/' 

Finally, they add, " delivering an Exordium 
I is only mispending time, uselessly dissipating a 
part of the hearers attention, so that afterward 
they frequently sleep very quietly when you en- 
ter on the discussion. Would it not be better 
then immediately to engage them in the matter, 
so that their attachment may afterward serve to 
maintain their attention, according to the natu- 
ral inclination which all men have to finish what 
they have once begun ?" 

But none of these reasons are weighty enough 
to persuade us to reject Exordiums, or to be care- 
I less about them. As to the first. The art, 
which appears in an Exordium, so far from be- 
ing odious in itself, and seeming unnatural to the 
hearers, is on the contrary altogether natural, * 
It is disagreeable to enter abruptly into theolo- 

* The art of introducTion is altogether natural." That is, it 
is natural to man to enter coolly and deliberately on a new, and 
i foreign fubjecT: 5 and to lead men by an Exordium from earth (as 
it were) to heaven is an art perfectly agreeable to fuch natural 
inclinations. 

4 D 2 



( 580 ) 



gical matters without any preparation. It would 
not be necessary, were our minds all exercised 
about divine things : but as, alas ! we are in ge- 
neral too little versed in such exercises ; it is 
good to be conducted to them without violence, 
and to have emotions excited in us in a soft, and 
insensible manner. It is not finesse, and deceit, 
since in doing it we only accommodate our- 
selves to the weakness of man's mind, and in- 
deed it is what he himself desires. Moreover, 
It is to be observed, that hearers are now so ha- 
bituated to an Exordium, that if they heard a 
preacher enter abruptly into his matter, they 
would be extremely disgusted, and would ima^ 
gine, the man was aiming to do with them what 
the angel did with Habbakkuk, when he took 
him by the hair of his head, and transported 
him in an instant from Judea to Babylon *. 
Some time, then, ought to be employed gently 
to lead the mind of the hearer to the subjects, of 
which you are going to treat. You are not to 
suppose that he already understands them, nor 
that he is thinking on what you have been me- 
ditating, nor that he can apply it instantly with- 
out preparation. 

The fecond reafon may have fome weight with 
weak and lazy preachers, but it has none with wife 

* Habbakkuk was tnftantly tranfported from Judea to Babylon. He 
alludes to the hiftory of Bell and the Dragon, verfe 30, where 
this quaint ftory is related. The fudden tranfport of the pro- 
phet has, however, this excellency, that it is of a piece with the 
reft of the hiftory, which defcribes Daniel rather as a conjuror 
than a prophet. It is faid of the Lord, He put forth the form 
of an hand, and took Ezekiel by a lock of his head, and brought 
him to Jerufalem : but this was done in the vifions of God, that 
is, the prophet dreamed that he was thus carried to Jerufalem. 
— Ezek. yiii. 3. 



( S81 ) 

and diligent ftudents : and, after all, exordiums are 
not fo difficult, as to be impracticable ; a little 
pains taking is fufficient, as we every day experi- 
ence. 

The third is not more confiderable, I grant, 
preachers ought to fuppofe the love and affection of 
their hearers : yet it does not follow, that they 
ought not to excite it, when they preach to them* 
Perhaps their affection is hot always in exercife, it 
may be fometimes fufpended, and even oppofed by 
contrary fentiments ; by coolnefs and indifference^ 
by hatred or envy, arifing from the defects of the 
paftor (for however able, he is not perfect) or from 
the depravity of the hearers. 1 he fame may be 
faid of attention, although they ought to have it 
entirely for the divine truths, which the preacher 
fpeaks: yet, it is certain, they have it not; and 
all that a preacher can defire is, that his hearers have 
a general difpofition to hear the gofpel. The 
preacher muft endeavour to give them a peculiar at- 
tention to fuch matters as he has to difcufs. As to 
the reft, it muft not be thought, that the bare read- 
ing of the text, or the connection, or the divifion 
only can produce that effect ; a greater compafs 
muft be taken to move the human mind and apply 
the f abject And this alfo may be faid of prepara- 
tion, for which an exordium is principally defigned* 
The reading of the text may do fomething, connec- 
tion and divifion may contribute more ; but all this 
without an exordium will be ufelefs. 

Nor is it difficult to anfwer the fourth reafon, for, 
befide the advantages of an exordium, which are 
great enough to prevent our calling it loft time, its 
arts are ordinarily fo fhort, that they cannot juftly 
e accufed of diffipating or fatiguing the hearers^ 



( 5B2 ) 



minds. To which I add, that the exordium itfeff, 
if well chofen, will always contain agreeable and in- 
ftru&ive matters, fo that confidered in itfelf fomething 
good is always to be learned from it. 

We cannot approve then of the cuftom of the 
EngBJh preachers, who enter immediately into the 
literal explication of the text, and make it ferve for 
an exordium, after which they divide their difcourfes 
into feveral parts, which they difcufs as they go on*. 
Surely the hearer is not fuddenly able to compre- 
hend their explications, having yet neither emotions 
nor preparation. Methinks, it would be much bet- 
ter gently to ftir them up, and move them by fome- 
thing, which gives no pain, than to load them all on 
a fudden with an explication, which they can neither 
clearly comprehend, nor perhaps diftin&ly hear.f 

* We cannot approve of the Engti/h cttjlom* Mr Claude died on 
the 13th of January, 1687, leaving this piece in manufcript, 
which, we have fuppofed, was written before 1676, that is to 
fay, about the middle of the reign of Charles II. The Englifh 
preachers, therefore, to whom he refers, muft be the}*-, who 
ilourifhed about that time. It is always difficult to give general 
characters, it is particularly fo in regard to the time, of which 
our author fpeaks : for there flourifhed at that period fome of 
the beft, and fome of the worft preachers, that England ever had. 
Nothing can equal the abfurdity of fome, nothing can excel 
the piety, the judgment and the tafte of others. However the 
general running method, as Mr Claude fays, was a bad one. 
Many great truths were thrown together, and delivered to the 
people in a confufed, clumfy manner. The parts of fermons 
were called by barbarous names, taken from obfolete treatifes of 
logic. The fafhionable book, ftudied then as a guide, was 
Wilkin's Ecclefiaftes, which was tirfl publifhed in 1646, and 
had run through fix editions before this elTay of Mr Claude was 
written. The book contains rude outlines of compofition, capa- 
ble of great improvement, 

f " Auditors cannot clearly comprehend an explication on a 
fudden." Mr Claude iuppofes, that the mind is not prepared 
for divine fubjects in the generality of hearers before they come, 
and that it is not likely they (hould be prepared by hearing the 



( 583 ) 



Leaft of all do we approve of the cuftom of fome 
of our own preachers, who, intending to explain* the 
text, or to make fome reflections throughout the 
whole fermon, enter immediately into the matter 
without any Exordiums at all. I am perfuaded, 
they are induced to do thus only for the fake of a- 
voiding the difficulty of compofing an Exordium, 
that is, in one word, only for the fake of indulging 
their idlenefs and negligence.* 

Taking it for granted then that an Exordium muft 
be ufed, it may be aiked, what are the principal be- 
nefits we ex peel: to receive from them ? And with 
what general views ought they to be compofed ? In 
anfwer, we fay, the principal defign of an Exordium 

text, and the connexion. This is in general true of all religious 
fubje£ts, and it is a reafon for the ufe of introductions : but 
there are fome difficult fubjects, to the underftanding of which, 
I had almoft faid, exordiums are effentiah Dr Calmy's fer- 
mons on the Trinity are nine in number, and from eight dif- 
ferent texts : yet feven of thefe have no exordium at all. The 
third begins thus : " Having, as was propofed, given fcriptural 
proof of the Son's deity, and made a few remarks upon the 
deity that is afcribed to him in our facred writings ; I now pro- 
ceed thirdly to offer fomething," Sec. Can it be fuppofed, the 
hearers were fo foon brought into a ftate of mind fit to enter on 
this profound fubjett ? 

DrOwen on Hab. iii. I. &c. begins thus. " Of this chapter 
there are four parts. Firft, The title and preface, verfe i. Second- 
ly, The prophet's main requeft in it, verfe 2. Thirdly, Argu- 
ments to full ain his faith in that requeft, from verfe 3 to 17. 
Fourthly, A refignation of himfelf and the whole iffue of his defires 
unto God, from ver. 17 to the end. We {hall treat of them in 
order." Thefe four heads multiply into almoft one hundred and 
fifty obfervations, ufes, reafons, &c. Ought not fo abftrufe an 
affair to have been introduced by an Exordium on patience and 
perfeverance ?" - — -Dr Owen's fermons, and tracts, fol. 238. 

* Some enter on the matter without any Exordium. I fuppofe, 
Mr Claude means, that exordiums in general ought to be ufed : 
but not that they may never be omitted. Certainly it is as pro- 
per fometimes to omit an introduction as at other times to ufe 
one. 



( 584 ) 



is to attract or excite the affections of the audience— 
to ftir up their attention — and to prepare them for 
the particular matters, of which we are about to 
treat 

The two firft of thefe mufl only be propofed indi- 
rectly. A preacher would render himfelf ridiculous, 
if in ordinary difcourfes, and without cafes pf ex- 
treme neceflity, he mould labour by this mean to 
acquire the efteem and affe&ion of his congregation. 
This method would be more likely to make them 
rather defpife than efteem him. 

You muft not then compliment the people, nor 
praife yourfelf, nor indeed fpeak of yourfelf in any 
manner of way. * Thefe are affectations, which 
never fucceed, and yet fome able preachers flip into 
this weaknefs, efpecially when they preach to ftrange 
congregations, and above all when they addrefs af- 
femblies of the rich, the learned, or the noble. 

Then they never fail to interlard their Exordiums 
with fome common place faws — either the pleafure 
it gives them to be called to that pulpit — or an affec- 
tation of feif-contempt- — a confeffion of their great 
weaknefs — or fomething of this kind. To fpeak 
my opinion freely, I think thefe are pedantic airs, 
which have a very bad effe£L Senfible auditors do 
not like to hear fuch fantaftical pretences, which are 
both contrary to the gravity of the pulpit, and to the 
decency of a modeft man. f 

* Do not compliment or flatter the people. Whence is. flattery to 
be banimed, if fuffered to (talk in the pulpit ? a place where 
every fpecies of infincerity ought to be reproved, if for no other 
reafon, yet left the hearers fhould infer what the Corinthians did 
from Paul's non-fulfilment of his promife to vifit them. That 
is, that the gofpel is yea, yea, and nay, nay. Comp. I. Cor. xvi. 5. 
2 Cor. i. 15, 16, 17, 18. 

f Pedantic airs are contrary to mode/ly, « It is a matter of ex- 



( 585 ) 



How then, you will afk, muft the affeEliom of 
the hearers be attracted ? I anfwer, indireSlly^ by an 
Exordium well chofen, and well fpoken, and this is 
the fureft way of fucceeding. 

In regard to attention, it is certain, it ought to be 
awakened, and fixed in the fame manner, that is, by 
fomething agreeable, and worthy of being heard, a 
compofition of piety and good fenfe. I do not dif- 
approve of afking fometimes for attention, either on 
account of the importance of the matter, the folemni- 
ty of the day, the ftate of the church, or, in fliort, 
of any other particular occafion ; but it muft not be 
done often, for then it would never be minded, and 
when it is done the fewer words the better. * 

perience, that congruity or propriety, wherever perceived, is a- 
greeable ; and that incongruity or impropriety, wherever per- 
ceived, is difagreeable.— Nothing is more intimately related to a 
man, than his fentiments, words and actions; and therefore we 
require here the ftritteft conformity. When we find what we 
thus require, we have a lively fenfe of propriety : when we find 
the contrary, our fenfe of impropriety is not lefs lively. Hence 
the universal diitafte of affectation, which confifts in making a 
{hew of greater delicacy and refinement, than is fuited either to 
the character or circumftances of the perfon." Elem. crit. vol. i-, 
c. x. 

Hence Shakefpear properly enough to our purpole. 

" But good my brother, 
Do not, as fome ungracious pallors do, 
Shew me the fteep and thorny way to heav'n, 
Whilft like a puft and carelefs libertine, 
Himfelf the primrofe paths of dalliance treads 
And recks not his own reed." — That is, regards not his 
own doctrine. Hamlet. 

* Tou may fometimes afk for attention. A prudent preacher will 
foon obferve when this is proper. " He, that hath ears to hear, 
let him hear. Mat. xi. 15.— Hear, and underftand. Mat. xv. 10. 
— Hear the word of the Lord, ye fcornful men, Ifaiah xxviii. 14. 
— Hearken, O Ifrael, to the ttatutes I teach you. Deut. iv. 1. — 
Hearken, O people, every one of you. I Kings xxii, %%, — Men, 

4 E 



( 586 ) 



The principal ufe of an Exordium is to prepare 
the hearer's mind for the particular matters you have 
to treat of, and infenfibly to conduct him to it. If 
this end be not obtained, the Exordium cannot but 
be impertinent ; and, on the contrary, if this end be 
anfwered, the Exordium cannot be improper. 

"When I fay, the hearer's mind muft be prepared 
for, and conducted to the matter, I mean to fay, 
thefe are two different things. You prepare the 
hearer for the matter, when you ftir up in him fuch 
difpojitions as he ought to have to hear well, and to 
profit much. You infenfibly conduct your hearer to 
the matter, when by the natural connection of the 
fubjects of which you fpeak, you lead him from one 
thing to another, and enable him to enter into the 
doctrine of your fermom 

Let us advert a moment to each. The prepara- 
tion muft be determined by the fubject, of which 
you are going to fpeak ; for if it be a fad and afflic- 
ting fubject, in which you aim to excite the compaf- 
fion, the grief, and the tears of your audience, you 
muft begin the Exordium by imparting fuch a difpo- 
fition, * 

brethren, and fathers, hearken. A£h vii. 2. The mod ufual, 
eafy, and natural method Teems a brief allocution. Thus the Athe- 
nians Andres athenaioi, ufed alfo by S. Paul in the Areopagus, 
Acts xviL 22. — So the Romans, §u\rites— and fo the Jews, 1 e 
men of Judea—We have fpoken of thefe before. 

The fathers, about the time of Chryfoftom, made ufe of what 
fome have called praexordia, and, they thought, they derived the 
cuftom from the apoftles. Paul begins his epiftles with " Grace 
and peace be with you from God the Father, and our Lord Jefus 
Chrift." In imitation of this, when a father afcended the pulpit, 
he ufed to paufe a moment, and then fay, " Peace be with you 
all !— or The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift be with you all !" or 
fomething of this kind. In return the people anfwered, And 
with thy fpirit ! And then he entered on his fermon. 

* Impart the difpofition which you would excite* Would you affect 



{ 587 ) 



If you have to treat of a profound and difficult 
mystery, aim to diffuse elevation and admira- 
tion among the hearers. If some terrible ex- 
ample of God's justice be the subject, endea- 
vour to stir up fear. If some enormous crime, 
prepare the mind for horror by a meditation on 
the enormity of human corruption. If you have 
to treat of repentance, and in an extraordinary 
manner to interest your hearers in it, you must 
begin to dispose them to it by general idea of 
God's wrath, which we have deserved — of the 
little fruit we have borne to his glory — or some- 
thing of a like nature. If, on the contrary, the 
matter you have to treat of be common and tran- 
quil, aim in your Exordium to place the mind in 
its natural state, and only endeavour to excite ho- 
nest and christian tempers, which we all ought 
always to have. In a word, the Exordium must 
always participate the spirit of the subject, that 

your auditors ? be affe&ed yourfelf. Would you excite their 
grief ? weep yourfelf. Nothing can be more natural than this 
method, yet nothing requires greater delicacy. Thefe emotions 
muft not be acted, they muft be free and natural. They cannot 
be acted, they may be affe&ed : but the affectation will be dif- 
covered, and it will excite the contempt of the hearers, they will 
think the preacher a hypocrite, whom aims to impofe on them. 

: The belt method fecms to be that, which the molt popular and 
pious preachers ufe. They ftudy till they thoroughly underltand 
the fubject. They habitually feel it. They retire ten minutes 
before preaching, and in fervent prayer to God, poflefs their fouls 
with a full idea of the importance of the matter, of which they 
are going to treat. They go from prayer to the pulpit, as Mo- 
fes went down from the mount from God to fpeak to the peo- 
ple* This was the primitive ufe of one of thofe little rooms, 
which were always added to places of worihip. The facrifty was 
that, in v/hich the utenfils of divine worihip were kept. The 
veftry was that, in which the minifters veftments were kept. 
Where there is only one veftry, and the preacher has no other 
convenient room at hand, this ihould be left free for his ufe be- 
tore worihip begins. 

4 E 2 



( 588 ) 

you mean to discuss, in order to dispose your 
hearers for it. Not to use in this manner, is to 
lose all the benefit of an Exordium : and to use 
it to an opposite purpose would be to renounce 
common sense, and to act like an idiot. * 

The second use of an introduction is to con- 
duct the hearer gradually to the subject, of which 
you are about to treat. This (as I have said) 
depends on the connection between the subjects 
of the Exordium with themselves, and with the 
matter of the discussion. I say first with them- 
selves, for they must, as it were, hold each other 
by the hand, and have a mutual dependence 
aud subordination, otherwise the auditor will be 
surprized to find himself suddenly transported 
from one topic to another. I say also with the 
discussion, for the Exordium is principally in- 
tended to introduce that. 

The first quality of an Exordium is brevity: 
This, however, has a proper measure, for as it 
ought not to be excessively long, so neither 
should it be too short, the middle way is best. 
The longest exordium may have ten or twelve 
periods, and the shortest six or seven, provided 
the periods be not too long. The reason, is, 
that on the one hand, proper time may be given 
the hearer to prepare himself to hear you with 
attention, and to follow you in the discussion of 
the matter ; and, on the other, that in giving 
time sufficient for that, you may prevent his 

* " An Exordium is intended to prepare the hearers.'' It may- 
happen, the hearers may be previoufly prepared, by fome awful, 
or pleafing circumftances, fome public event, or fome particu- 
lar cafe known to the auditors j then there is no need of an ex- 
ordium to prepare. 



589 ) 



wandering out of the subject, wearying himself, 
and becoming impatient. If the Exordium were 
too short, it would oblige the hearer to enter too 
soon into the matter without preparation enough; 
and excessive length would weary him, for it is 
with an auditor, as with a man who visits a pa- 
lace, he does not like to stay too long in the 
court, or first avenues, he would only view them 
transiently without stopping, and proceed as 
soon as possible to gratify his principal curio- 
sity. * 

2. An Exordium must be clear, and consequent- 
ly disengaged from all sorts of abstruse and meta- 
physical thoughts. It should be expressed in na- 
tural and popular terms,and notovercharged with 
matter. Indeed, as the auditors are neither en- 
livened nor moved yet, you must not expect of 
them at first a great degree of penetration and 
elevation, nor even a great attempt towards 
these, though they may be capable of them, 
when they are animated. You must, therefore, 
in an Exordium, avoid all that can give pain to 
the mind, such as physical questions, long trains 
of reasoning, and such like. However, do not 
imagine that, under pretence of great clearness, 
an Exordium must have only theological mat- 
ter, or consist rather of words than things. 

* Exordiums muf} be of moderate length. u In particular, long 
periods ought to be avoided till the reader's attention be tho- 
roughly engaged, and therefore a difcourfe, especially of the fa- 
miliar kind, ought never to be introduced with a long period. — 
An example of this fault is in the commencement of Cicero's 
oration, pro Archia poetaS'—EL of Crit. c. xviii. 

It is impoffible to infert examples at length here : but there 
are abundance of very beautiful ones in many modern Englifh 
fermons, in every body's handso 



( 590 ) 



This would be falling into the other extreme. 
An Exordium, then, must contain matter capa- 
ble of nourishing and satisfying the mind, to do 
which they must be clear, easy to comprehend, 
and expressed in a very natural manner. * 

3. An Exordium must be cool and grave. Con- 
sequently no grand figures may be admitted, as 
apostrophes, violent exclamations, reiterated in- 
terrogations, nor in a word, any thing that tends 
to give vehement emotions to the hearers ; for, 
as the discourse must be accommodated to the 
state of the hearer, he in the beginning being 
cool, and free from agitations, the speaker ought 
to be so too. *f No wise man will approve Ex- 
ordiums fuil of enthusiasms, and poetical rap- 
tures, full of impetuous or angry emotions, or 
of bold interrogations, or surprizing paradoxes 
to excite admiration %. You must in the begin- 

* Exordiums must be clear \ 

f They tnuft be cool. Mr Claude's rule is undoubtedly good in 
general, and his reafon weighty. 

This, however, is a rule fometimes difpenfed with. Cicero 
begins one oration thus. <£ Jamne vides, bellua," &c. 

Flechier begins a funeral oration thus, " With what defign, 
Sirs, are you aflembled here, and what idea have you of rny mi- 
niftry ? Am I come to dazzle you with the glory of terreftial ho- 
nours and dignities ? Do you come to interrupt your atten- 
tion ?" &c — Flechier Oraif. Funeb. de M. Le Tellier. 

Fenelon thus. " BlefTed be God, my brethren, who has this 
day put his word into my mouth to blefs and praife the work 
which he accomplices in this houfe. I own I have long wifhed 
to pour out my heart before thefe altars — It is then in a tran- 
fport of joy that I fpeak." — Oeuvres phil. torn, n-fer. u 

Saurin thus. " Can you have patience with us once more, if 
we proceed in drawing the fad picture of your miferies I" — 
Saur. Ser. torn, iv.fer. 9. 

None of thefe are cool exordiums, yet none of them appear 
improper. Mr Claude's rule is good in general, on particular 
occafions, it feems, it may be laid afide. 

} Enthufiafms. Mr Claude means all violent transports of paf- 



( 591 ) 



ning speak gently, remembering that your aii-* 
ditors are neither yet in heaven, nor in the air, 
nor at all elevated in their way thither, but upon 
earth, and in a place of worship. * 

4 An Exordium, however, ought not to be fo 

fion, fuch as thofe, with which the poets and Delphian prieft- 
efles were inflamed, which violently agitated the bodies of the 
latter in delivering their oracles ; and which fo powerfully ani- 
mate the defcriptions of the former. 

Very likely, the heathens, ufed long toconfider diftortions as 
evidences of infpiration, and obferving that convulfions were 
common at the approach of death, conceived the notion of men's 
prophefying juft before their departure. However that be, this 
we may depend upon, twang, and tautology, diftortions, and 
convulfions, are no certain indications of divine affiftance. 
Scripture-enthufiafm is conformity to the blefled God. i John 
iv. 12, 13. It isefpoufing God's intereft (if I may fo fpeak) ia 
God's own way. Had truth always been propagated by love, 
the word enthufiafm would have retained its primitive idea, that 
is, it would always have been taken in a good fenfe : but now, 
its friends have miftaken the thing, and its enemies the 
name. 

For example, A pamphlet publifhed in 1655 by fome, who 
were imprifoned atNorwich for matters of confcience, in anfwer 
to a clergyman of that city, who printed againft them, is inti- 
tied, I/hmael and his mother cafl out into the wilder -nefs, among the 
ivild beafts of the fame nature. Or a reply to a book put forth by 
one of Ifhmael's children, who calls himfelf a minifter of the 
gofpel, but is clearly made manifeft by the light of God in his 
fervants to be a fcoffer, and enemy of the gofpel, which the 
faints of God fufFer for. — Given forth from the fpirit of the 
Lord in us — whofe names in the flem are. 1 ' &c. — This child of 
Ifhmael is addreffed by thefe infpired faints thus, " Shame cover 
thy face thou full of rottennefs and filthy dreams, what haft thou 
to do, thou dreamer, to profefs thyfelf a minifter of the gofpel, 

who art but: yet in thy mediate natural conceivings." God 

forbid, we Ihould juftify the imprifonment of men for con- 
fcience- fake : but, in good earneft, do fuch men think them- 
felves infpired ? 

* '* If you are in the clouds, your auditors are upon earth." 
Our author rallies the enthufiafts. Salluft's remark is very juft 
on this occafion as well as on writing hiftory ; the hearers, ob- 
ferving the preacher's vehemence, and defpairing of attaining the 
like, will condemn him, and perhaps diftrefs themfelves. 



( 592 ) 



cool and grave, as not to be at the fame time en- 
gaging and agreeable. There are three principal 
ends, which a preacher fhould propofe, to inftruct, 
to pleafe, and to affecT: : but, of thefe three, that which 
fhould reign in an Exordium is to pleafe. I own, 
you fhould alfo aim to inftruct and afFed : but lefs 
to inftrucl: than to pleafe, and lefs ftill to affect than 
to inftrucl:. Indeed, if you can judicioufly and pro- 
perly introduce any thing tender into an Exordium 
(efpecially on extraordinary occafions) you may to 
good purpofe : but, be that as it may, the agreeable 
fhould reign in this part. You eafily fee by this 
that you muft banifh from the Exordium all ill-na- 
tured cenfures, terrible threatenings, bitter reproaches, 
and in general all that favours of anger, contempt, 
hatred, or indifference, and in fhort every thing that 
has the air of quarrelling with the hearers. * Their 

f H Avoid every thing that has the air of quarreling with the 
hearers."" It muft be allowed, fome weak paflionate men have 
grievoufly offended their auditors in this way, and a great impru- 
dence it is. It is unmanly to accufe where decency forbids the 
accufed to anfwer. It never produces any good effects, either 
in the accufed, or in other hearers ; and it always finks the 
preacher's reputation with both. The former are provoked, the 
latter arc filled with pity or contempt. It betrays a total want 
of felf-government, and exhibits nothing but paffion and revenge, 
and thefe in a place, from whence, of all others in the world, 
they ought to be for ever excluded. However, where thefe fad 
cafes have happened, the good people mould overlook them, and 
remember their minitter is but a man. 

There is a fort of loofe living hearers, whofe ill-turned minds 
give an ugly cad to all the difcourfes of the mo ft undefigning 
preacher. Thefe people know they deferve reproof, and they 
imagine every reproof given in the courfe of a man's labours is 
pointed at them. What is the good minifler to do ? There is 
\ method to avoid giving offence to this fort of people, but a 
faithful preacher dare not ufe it. What fhould we think of a 
paftor, who fhould give public notice, that, as he defired to give 
offence to none, and as he had reafon to believe many of his con- 
gregation lived in fome practices, which they would not choofe 



( 593 ) 



attention muft not only be excited, you may fuffi- 
ciently do fo by cenfures and reproaches : but 
you muft foftly infinuate yourfelf into their 
efteem, fo that they may not only not oppofe what 
you fay, but be well fatisfled you are an honeft and 
well-meaning man. * 

5. The whole of the exordium muft be naturally 
connecled with all the matter of the text. I fay firft the 
whole of the exordium, for great care muft be taken 
to put nothing there foreign to your fubjecl: : 
therefore the beft exordiums are thofe, which are 
compofed of two propofitions, the firft of which is 
naturally and immediately connected with the fe- 
cond, and the fecond naturally and immediately 
with the text. Each of thefe propofitions may be 
either proved, or amplified; but the laft muft al- 
ways con duel; you with eafe to the fubjecl: in quef- 
tion, nor muft the firft be very diftant. According 
to this maxim, all exordiums muft be condemned, 
which, inftead of leading you into the text, make 
you as it were tumble from a precipice into it, 
which is intolerable. Thofe alfo are to be condemn- 
ed, which conduct to the text by many long 

to hear reproved, he would oblige them by omitting to cenfure 
all fuch practices ; and that, in order to ascertain thefe, he would 
always fit in the veftry half an hour before preaching to receive 
fuch lifts of errors and vices as they would pleafe to have fpared? 
Could honert Micaiah have done fo, even Ahab would not have 
exclaimed, I hate him, for he never prophefieth good unto me. 
2 Chron. xviii. 7. 

* " Satisfy your hearers, that you are a well-meaning man." 
Hence Quintilian fo much infifts on his orator's being a good 
man. The whole firft chapter of his twelfth book is fpent in 
proving the neceffity of this ; and, if this be fo needful at the 
bar, how much more fo is it in the pulpit ! His conclufion is e- 
nough to make a chriftian minifter blulh. " Men had better be 
born dumb, and even deftitute of reafon, than pervert thofe gifts 
of providence to pernicious purpofes. 

4 F 



( 594 ) 



circuits, that is, by many propofitions chained to- 
gether, which is certainly vicious, and can only fa- 
tigue the hearer. I add in the fecond place, the ex- 
ordium muft be conne&ed with the whole matter of 
the text. It ought not merely to relate to one of its 
parts, (or to one view only, if you intend to confider 
it in different views) but to all One of the princi- 
pal ufes of an exordium is to prepare the mind 
of the hearer for the matter to be difcuffed. If 
therefore, the exordium refer only to one of its parts, 
or to one view only, it will prepare the mind of the 
hearer for that one part, for that one view only, and 
not for the reft4 

6. An Exordium miifl be fimple. We would not 
entirely banifli figures ; on the contrary, we would 
always employ fuch as may render the difcourfe 
pleafant and agreeable ; but pompous and magni- 
ficent expreflions muft be avoided, as far as the things 
fpoken will permit. Do not ufe a ftyle too elevated 
bordering on bombaft — nor periods too harmonious 

% " Your whole exordium muft be connected -with the whole 
text. 1 ' " We are framed by nature to relifti order and connec- 
tion. When an object is introduced by a proper connection, we 
are confcious of a certain pleafure arifing from that circumftance. 

Every work of art that is conformable to the natural courfe 

of our ideas, is fo far agreeable ; and every work of art that re- 
verses that courfe is fo far difagreeable. Hence it is required 
in every fuch Work, that like an organic fyftem, its parts Ihould 
be orderly arranged and mutually connected, bearing each of 
them a relation to the whole, fome more intimate, fome lefs, 
according to their deftination : When due regard is had to tliefe 
particulars, we have a fenfe of juft compofition, and fo far are 
pleafed with the performance. — The two prefaces of Salluft, 
look as if they had been prefixed by fome blunder to his two 
hiftories : they will fuit any other hiftory as well, or any fub- 
ject as well as hiftory. Even the members of thefe prefaces 
are but loofely connected : they look more like a number of 
maxims or obfervations than a connected difcourfe." Elem. of 
orit. vol, i. c. L 



( 595 ) 



—nor overftrained allegories — nor even metaphors 
too common or too bold, for indeed the hearer's mind, 
yet cool and in its natural ftate, can bear nothing of 
this kind. 

7. An exordium muft not be common. As this 
is a rule much abufed, it will be needful to explain 
it. By a common exordium, I do not mean an ex- 
ordium, which will fuit many texts ; for if the texts 
are parallel, and the fubjecl: be managed with the 
fame views, and in the fame circumftances, what 
occafion is there to compofe different exordiums ? 
By a common exordium, I mean, in the firft place, 
one taken from trivial things, and which have been 
faid over and over again ; thefe the people already 
know, and your labour will be infallibly thrown a- 
way. Such are exordiums taken from comparifons 
of the fun — of kings — of conquerors — of the an- 
cient Romans, &c. — or from fome hiftories of the 
Old Teftament, which have been often repeated — 
or of fome well-known types, as the Ifraelites paf- 
fage through the Red Sea— and many more of the 
fame kind. In the fecond place, I mean by a com* 
mon or, general exordium, one, which may be alike 
applied to two texts of different matter, or to two 
contrary interpretations of the fame text. It is in 
this fenfe that common exordiums are vicious and 
diftalleful. 

8. Even in metaphorical or figurative texts, it 
is quite puerile to make an exordium join the 
text by a metaphor; for, whatever ingenuity 
there may seem to be in it, it is certain, there is 
no taste, no judgment discovered in the practice, 
and, however it may pass in college-declama- 
tions, it would appear too trifling in a gospel- 
pulpit. The exordium, then, must be connected 

4 E r - 



( 596 } 



with the text by the matter itself, that is, by 
the subject intended to be conveyed by the fi- 
gure, and not by the figure. I would not, how- 
ever forbid the joining of the exordium to the 
text sometimes by the figure, provided it be done 
in a chaste and prudent manner. 

Let us give one example. He thai eateth my 
jtesb, and drinketb my blood, bath eternal life. John 
vi. 54,. An exordium to a sermon from this 
text may be taken from the idea, which holy 
scripture teaches us to form of our conversion, 
as if it were a new birth, which begins a new 
life— that for this purpose, it speaks of a new 
man, a new heaven, which illuminates, and a new 
earth, which supports him— ——that, attribu- 
ting to this new man the same senses, which 
nature has formed in us, as sight, hearing, feel- 
ing, smelling, tasting ; it attributes also to him 
objects proportioned to each of these mystical 
senses, and ascribes to them effects like those, 
which our senses produce by their natural opera- 
tions.— — It tells us that our eyes contem- 
plate the cselestial light, w T hich illuminates and 
guides us in the ways of righteousness— that our 
ears hear the voice oi God who calls us, and who 
by these means makes us obey our vocation.— 
It tells us that the gospel is a savour of life, 
which communicates salvation to us. — And fi- 
nally, it attributes to us a mouth to eat the jlesh, 
and drink the blood of the Son of God, in order 
to nourish us to life eternal. It is this last ex- 
pression, which Jesus Christ has made use of in 
the sixth of John, and which says in my text, 
he, that eateth my flesh and dri?iketh my blood, hath 
eternal life. 



( 597 ) 

This exordium joins itself to the text by the 
figure made use of in the text, but in such a 
manner as not to be chargeable with affectation, 
or witticism; for it is by a serious reflection on 
the scripture use of the figure, acknowledging it 
to be a figure, and preparing the hearer to attend 
to the explication. 

To these rules, I subjoin a word or two on 
the vices of exordiums. 1. There are some 
preachers, who imagine it a fine thing to take 
exordiums from the persons of their hearers, or 
the circumstances of times, places, general af- 
fairs, or news of the world ; but I believe this 
is altogether a vicious method, and should ne- 
ver be used but on extraordinary occassions. 
First, there is too much affectation in it. Is it 
not a vain parade to begin a discourse with 
things, which have no relation to the matter ? 
It is certainly contrary to the chastity and mo- 
desty of a christian-pulpit. Secondly, exordiums 
of this sort are usually pulled in by head and 
shoulders. How should it be otherwise, when 
the articles, of which they are composed, have, 
if any, only a very distant relation to the text? 
By such means you defeat the principal design 
of an exordium, which is to prepare the hearers 
minds, and to conduct them insensibly to the 
subject. And finally, it is very difficult in such ex- 
ordiums to avoid saying impertinencies; for what 
in a public discourse can be more indelicate than 
to speak of yourself,or hearers, or times, or news? 
In my opinion, such exordiums ought to be en- 
tirely rejected? * 

* By vicious exordiums the principal defign of an exordium 
is defeated. 



( 598 ) 



s You must also, for the most part, reject 
exordiums taken from profane history, or what 
they call the apothegms of illustrious men. ■* 
This method savours too much of the college, 
and is by no means in the taste of pious well 
bred men. Alexander, Caesar, Pompey, all the 
great names of antiquity, have no business to a- 
scend a gospel-pulpit, and if they are not suf- 
fered now-a-days, either in orations in the 
senate, or in pleas at the bar; much less ought 
they to be allowed in christian sermons. It 
may not be amiss, if they appear now and then 
in the discussion, or in the application ; but e- 
ven there we ought to see them but seldom, not 
oftener than once a year at most ; but to intro- 
duce them at the beginning of a sermon is 
intolerable. I say much the same of citations 
from profane authors, they must be forborne, 
unless it be something so particular, so agreea- 
ble, and so apt to the text, as to carry its own 
recommendation along with it. Of this kind, 
I think, was the exordium of a sermon on this 
text. So teach us to number our days, that we 
may apply our hearts unto wisdom. It was taken 
from Plutarch, who relates, that Alcibiades cal- 
led one day to see Pericles, and was told by 
his domestics, that their master was busy in 
preparing his accounts to lay before the repu- 
blic: to which he immediately replied, Instead 
of labouring to make up his accounts, it would 
be incomparably better to render himself not 

* The apothegms of illuftrious men mould feldom appear in 
a fermon. We may venture to add, they mould never appear 
without peculiar diicernment in the choice, and peculiar pro- 
priety in the application. 



( 599 ) 

accountable to them at all. It was added — that this 
is the notion of almoft all wicked men, who, being 
ignorant of God their governor, and feeling their 
confciences charged with a thoufand crimes, think 
only of eluding the judgment of God, and of avoid- 
ing that account, which they will one day be obliged 
to give to the mafter of all creatures — that if only 
one man, or two men were in queftion, the attempt 
of Alcibiades might fucceed : but as it was God, 
with whom they had to do, it muft be worfe than 
foolilh to imagine, his tribunal could be avoided 
— -that there was no other way to take than to pre- 
pare to give an account to God, nor any advice more 
'reafonable than to labour continually to do it well — 
and that, for this purpofe even felf-intereft fhould 
oblige us to have recourfe to God to affift us by his 
grace — this is what the church aims to teach us in 
the words of the prophet, So teach us to number our 
days, that we may apply our hearts unto wifdom. * 

In general, the beft exordiums are taken from the- 
ology ; for, as on the one hand, they have always 
more relation to the matter of the text, fo, on the o- 
ther, they much better prepare the hearers' minds, 
being more grave, and free from the puerile pedan- 
tries of the college. 

In order to compofe an exordium, after you have 
well confidered the fenies of the text, and obferved 
what are the principal matters, which ought to enter 
into the difcuffion, and after you have made the di- 

* w Citations from profane authors may be ufed, when they 
are pertinent, and carry their own recommendation with them." 
Mr. Claude is to be underftood here, as almoft every where elfe ? 
as reprobating only improprieties. He wifely obferves, that 
circumftances may render every thing proper, and every thing 
improper. A fitting of compofition to thefe circumftances is 
the true art of compofing. 



{ 600 ) 



vifion, endeavour to reduce the whole to one com- 
mon idea, and then choofe fome other idea naturally 
connected with that common idea, either immedi- 
ately, or by means of another. If it be immediately 
connected with the fubject., endeavour to reduce it to 
one proportion, which may be cleared and proved as 
vou go on, or if it have parts, which require feparate 
explications and proofs, it muft be managed fo as to 
include them, and finally, by the natural connec- 
tion of that propofition with the difcuffion, enter into 
the text. If the propofition be connected with the 
text only remotely, then eftablifh the firft, pais on 
to the fecond, and fo proceed from the fecond to the 
text. * 

Exordiums may be taken from almoft all the fame 
topics as obfervations, that is from genus, fpeaes, con- 
traries, EsV. For there are but few good exordiums, 
which might not go into the difcuffion, under the 
title of general obfervations. Of fuch obfervations 
that muft be chofen for an exordium, which is leaft 
effential, or leaft necefTary to the difcuffion, and which 
befides is clear, agreeable, and entertaining, t A 
comparifon may fometimes be employed in an exor- 
dium: but not often, nor muft trivial comparifons be 
ufed, which all the world know, or which are taken 
from any thing mean, nor muft they be embarrafiing, 
taking from things unknown to the people, as thofe 
are, which are borrowed from mechanics, aftronomy, 
&c. of which the people know nothing at all, 

Bible-h'iftory may be ufed : but fparingly ; and 
the application muft be always juft, agreeable, and 
in fome fort new and remarkable. 

* « Connect the parts of the exordium with the fubject of the 

-difcourfe." 

f " Exordiums muft be agreeable and entertaining.*' 



( 601 ) 



Types may alfo be employed ; but with the fame 
precautions, always confulting good fenfe, and tafte. 

The beft method is to compofe feveral exordiums 
for the fame text, by turning your imagination divers 
ways, by taking it in all its different relations, for by 
fuch means you may choofe the mofl: proper. But 
after all thefe general precepts, which indeed ought 
to be known, and by which exordiums muft be re- 
gulated, it is certain, the invention and compojition of 
an Exordium can only become eajy by praelice. * A 
young preacher ought not to complain of trouble, 
nor to be any way negligent in the matter, for he 
may be fure of fucceeding by attention and applica- 
tion. 

* Practice makes compojition eafy. The very ingenious author 
of Elements of criticifm fays, a Tafte muft be improved by edu- 
cation, reflexion, and experience," and adds the following note* 
" That thefe particulars are ufeful, it may be faid neceffary, for 
acquiring a difcerning tafte in the fine arts, will appear from the 
following facts, which (hew the influence of experience Jingfyo 
Thofe who live in the world and in good company, are quick 
lighted with refpeet to every defect or irregularity in behaviour: 
the very flighteft Angularity in motion, in fpeech, or in drefs, 
which to a peafant would be invifible, efcapes not their obfer- 
vation. The rnoft minute differences in the human countenance, 
fo minute as to be far beyond the reach of words, are diftindtly 
perceived by the plaineft perfon : while, at the fame time, the 
generality have very little difcernment in the faces of other ani- 
mals to which they are lefs accuftomed. Sheep, for example, 
appear to have all the fame face, except to the fhepherd, who 
knows every individual in his flock, as well as he does his rela- 
tions and neighbours. The very populace in Athens were critics 
in language, in pronunciation, and even in eloquence, harangues 
being their daily entertainment. In Rome at prelent the molt 
illiterate fhopkeeper is a better judge of ftatues, and of pic- 
tures, than perfons of the higheft education in London. Thefe 
fa£ts afford convincing evidence, that a difcerning tafte depends 
{till more on experience than on nature." Chap, xxv. on telle 

4 G 



( 602 ) 



CHAP. X. 

Of the Conclusion. * 

THE Conclufion ought to be lively and anima- 
ting, full of great and beautiful figures, aiming 
to move chriftian affections — as the love of God — - 
hope — zeal — repentance— felf-condemnation— a de- 
fire of felf-corre&ion — confolation — admiration of 
eternal benefits — hope of felicity — courage and con- 
ftancy in afflictions — fteadinefs in temptations — gra- 

* Conclufion. This in a fermon anfwers to what in an oration 
is called the peroration. " It recapitulates, or fums up the 
ftrongeft and chief arguments, and by moving the paffions, en- 
deavours to perfuade the hearers to yield to the force of them.'* 
J-AHjt Rhet. 

The fire of the preacher fhould blaze here, he (hould collect 
the ideas of his whole fermon into this part, as rays are collected 
in the focus of a burning glafs, and inflame the hearts of his 
auditors. The three following general rules, feem very proper. 
" i. Let the peroration, or conclufion, be ftiort. — 2. Let it be 
bold and lively. — 3. Let fome one or more ftriking idea, not 
mentioned before in the difcuflion, be referved for this part, and 
let it be applied with vigour. Bucholtzer ufed to fay, " A good 
preacher was known by his conclufion.' ' He often clofed his 
fermons designedly in a curt, terfe, abrupt manner. — Here, my 
brethren ! I flop, and I leave the holy fpirit to preach to you* 
—Now, chriftians ! I have done my part. May the Lord 
condefcend to do his in your hearts ! — I have planted, and wa- 
tered. May God give the increafe ! — I have been preaching to 
you, and fetting before you the gofpel of falvation. May the 
Lord God apply it to your hearts, for his glory, and for your 
eternal felicity] — May the Lord fet home to your hearts what 
I have been preaching ! For my part, I am only his mefTenger 
to you. He is the fhepherd and bifhop of your fouls ! — With 
Tome one fuch fentence he frequently concluded his difcourfe." 
" The words of the wife are as goads, and as nails fattened by 
the mailers of affemblies. Eccl. xii. ii."—KeckermanmRhet, 
EccL lib. i. cap. x. 



( 603 ) 



tirade to God — recourfe to him by prayer — and o- 
ther fuch difpofitions. * 

There are three forts of difpofitions, or emotions, 
the violent — the tender — and the elevated. The 
violent are, for example, indignation, fear, zeal, cou- 
rage, firmnefs againft temptations, repentance, felf- 
loathing, &c. f 

* A csnclujion /hould excite chriftlan difpofitions. Bifhop Burnet 
fays, " Afermon, the conclufion whereof makes the auditory look 
pleafedand fets them all a talking with one another, was certainly 
either not rightly fpoken, or not rightly heard ; it has been fine, 
and has probably delighted the congregation rather than edified 
It: but that fermon that makes every one go awayfilent,and grave, 
andhaftening to be alone to meditate, and pray the matter over 
in fee ret, has had a true efFecT:.'' — Paft. Carey ch. ix. 

The publilher of Maffillon's fermons defcribes in the preface, 
the bifhop's method of preaching, by faying that " What form- 
ed the diftin£fc character of Father Maffillon's eloquence was, 
that all his ftrokes aimed directly at the heart, fo that what was 
(imply reafon, and proof in others, was feeling in his mouth. He 
not only convinced, he affected, moved, and melted his hearers. 
He did not confine himfelf to difcover only the injuftice, and 
unreafonablenefs of vice, he mewed it in fuch a hideous and 
hateful light, that you could no longer fuffer yourfelf to be un- 
der the empire of fuch a cruel tyrant ; you could no longer coo- 
fider it in any other light than that of a iworn enemy of your 
felicity. Entering into an holy indignation againft yourfelf, you 
would appear to yourfelf fo blind, fo unjuft, fo miferable, that 
you would fee no other remedy than that of falling into the arms 
of virtue." 

f " Some emotions are violent, and muft be excited by vio- 
lent conclufions." Example of the violent from Saurin's fermon 
on the feverity of God. The text is Heb. xii. 29. For our God 
is a confuming fire. Having fpoken of fudden unprepared deaths, 
and the uncertainty of fick-bed repentances, he adds, " God's 
thoughts are not as^our thoughts. True, we have feen fome few 
examples of people, who have proved after their recovery, that 
they were converted in their ficknefs; and who make us pre- 
fume that fome dying people may alfo be converted in the fame 
manner : but yet, Our God is a confuming fire. How rare are 
thefe examples ! Need we prove it ? Need we demonftrate it ? 
You are our proofs, you are our demonftrations. Which of us 
has not been fick, and (I fpeak of perfons of a certain age) 

4G2 



( 604 ) 



The tender emotions are joy, confolation, grati- 

which of us has not feen himfelf fometimes at the brink of 
death ? Who has not made refolutions in that terrible moment, 
who has not promifed to reform himfelf ? The laws of thefe ex- 
ercifes forbid me certain details, it is not allowable to name fuch 
of you as hear me ; but I appeal to your conferences, and if your 
confeiences be afleep, I appeal to the immortal God. How many 
perfons are there amongft you, who have made us the deposi- 
tories of your refolutions, who engaged folemnly to renounce 
the world and its maxims ? How many of you by thefe appear- 
ances of converfion have impofed on us, and impofed on your- 
felves too ? How many, whom we mould have alledged as new 
examples of people converted on a death bed, if God had not 
reftored you to life ? Are you converted indeed ? Have you re- 
nounced the world, and its maxims ? Ah ! when we would judge 
by the conduct: of thofe, who are raifed from flcknefs, of the 
fate of thofe, who are dead' , . . My brethren, I dare not ex- 
amine this matter to the bottom, and I leave it to your medita- 
tion. 

God's thoughts art not as our thoughts. It is true, there is no- 
thing in our fcriptures, which authorizes us to fhut the gates of 
heaven againft a dying man, who difcovers tokens of repentance: 
Nor is there any thing, which authorizes us to tell him, There 
is no hope for you, you are loft without remedy : but yet, Our 
God is a confuming lire, and there are hundreds of pafiages in 
fcripture, which authorize, What do I fay ? There are hundreds 
of pafTages which forbid us, under pain of being punifhed with 
all the judgments referved for the crimes, to conceal any thing 
from the criminal ; there are hundreds of paffages, which com- 
mand us to tell you, you who are fifty years of age, you who 
are fixty, you who are fourfcore, you who after this put off your 
converfion, that it is a madnefs, an excefs of hardnefs, and indo- 
lence, which all the flames of hell can never expiate* 

" After all, this is an article, of which your paftors hope to 
render to God a faithful account, how undeferving foever we 
acknowledge ourfelves of his patience. How often have we re- 
presented to you the dreadful confequences of your delays ? We 
would take you to witnefs, walls of this church ! if you were ca- 
pable of giving evidence. But you ihall be our witneffes, ye dik 
courfes preached in thefe affemblies ! a remembrance of which 
fhall be awakened in that great day, when our hearers (hall give 
an account of the ufe they have made of them. Confeiences ! 
you {hall be our witneffes, you have heard our directions. You 
yourfelves mail be our witneffes, gainfayers ! you who have 
fo often pretended, by reverfmg the ideas, which the gofpel 
gives us of the mercy of God, to obfeure others, which it gives 



( 605 ) 



tude ; tender fubje&s are pardon, pity, prayer, &c. * 
The elevated ' are admiration of the majefty of God, 

us of his juftice and vengeance — " We are innocent of your 
blood, we have not fhunned to declare to you the whole counfel 

of God" and though, when called before his tribunal, we 

muft fay to him under a fenfe of the weaknefles, with which 
our miniftry was accompanied, Enter not into judgment with thy 
fervants, O Lord ; yet will we even then venture to fay, when 
werecoltecl: the overtures we have made, and the intreaties we 
have ufed to ftir you up to improve the prefent moment, " I 
have preached righteoufnefs in the great congregation. Lo, I 
have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knoweft, and though 
I have laboured in vain, and fpent my ftrength for nought, yet 
my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. 

" Ah ! May God animate us with nobler motives ! God 
grant, not that the torments inflicted on our hearers in the ceco- 
nomy of eternity may be the apology of our miniftry, but rather 
may God make you our crown and joy in the day of the Lord 
Amen. Saur. Ser. torn. vi. fer. quatrieme. 

* « Tender conclulion." Example of a tender conclufion, 
from a fermon of Bp. Maflillonto his clergy. u And indeed, 
my brethren, can a paftor live either without prayer, or can he 
pray but feldom, or can he pray without fervour, and zeal, or 
can he confine all his prayers to a cold, inattentive, and hafty 
rehearfal of his breviary, while he pafies his life amongft his 
parifhioners, and fees the greateft part of them living in fin, and 
perifhing every day before his eyes ? When the high-priefl 
Aaron faw a part of his people fmitten by the hand of God, and 
expiring before him, he ran between the dead, and the living — > 
he lifted his hands to heaven— he wept for the mifery of fuch 
as fell before his eyes— he cried— he wreftled — and his prayer 
was heard, the plague was flopped, and the fword of God's an- 
ger retired. A good paflor never prays for his people in vain. 
And Aaron ftood between the dead, and the living, and the 
plague was flayed, 

" This, my brethren, is the image of a good paftor. Amongft 
his people, (as I may fay) he walks between the dead, and the 
living; he fees by his fide fome of his flock dead, and others ready 
to expire, having only fome flattering figns of life. He fees the 
invifible fword of God's wrath hang over thefe people, he fees 
reigning crimes, and haftening death. All this he beholds, and 
it is a fpe&acle, which he has every day before his eyes. If he 
is not afFe&ed with this : he is not a paftor, he is a mercenary 
wretch who fees in cold blood the deftrucl:ion of his flock. He 
is either a minifter fallen from the grace of the prieflhood, or 
one who has never received it. But if this affe&s him, ah ! 



( 606 ) 



the ways of providence, the glory of Paradife, the ex- 
pectation of benefits, &c. * 

what mult the firft motion of his grief and zeal be ? He will 
addrefs himfelf to God, who wounds and heals — he will offer to 
him fecret tears of grief and love for his people — he will remind 
an angry God of his ancient mercies— he will move his paternal 
heart by his fighs— and offer himfelf to beaccurfed for his bre- 
thren.— — Aaron flood between the dead, and the living, and 
the plague was {fayed. 

" No, my brethren, a priefl, a pallor who does not pray, 
who does not love prayer, does not belong to that church, 
which prays without ceafing. He is not united to the fpirit of 
prayer, and love. He is a dry and barren tree, which cumbers 
the Lord's ground. He is the enemy, and not the father of his 
people. He is a flranger, who has ufurped the pallor's place* 
and to whom the falvation of the flock is indifferent. Where- 
fore, my brethren, be faithful to prayer, and your functions will 
be more ufeful, your people more holy, your labours will feem 
much fweeter, and the church's evils will diminifh." Maffil. 
difc. fynodaux, torn. ii. dif. x. 

* " Elevated conclufion." Example of an elevated conclu- 
fion from Saurin. " I am God's (thus fpeaks the believer) I 
I am God's, not only becaufe he has a iovereign empire over 
me as a creator; not only becaufe as a redeemer he has the right 
of a mailer over a flave, whom he has purchafed ; but I am 
God's, becaufe I love him, and becaufe I know God is worthy 
of my love. The lively impreffions, which his adorable perfec- 
tions have made on me, make me impatient with every thing, 
that intercepts my view of him. I could not be content to be 
any longer upon earth, except his law, which is the rule of my 
conduct, ordained it : yet the law, which ordains me to live, 
does not forbid my deliring to die^ Death I confider as the fum- 
mit of my defires, and as the confummation of my happinefs. 
While I am in the body, I am abfent from the Lord. But it is 
incomparably better for me to be abfent from the body, and pre- 
sent with the Lord, and what mould flay me upon earth, when 
God fhall pleafe to call me to himfelf ! 

u It (hall not be you, criminal objetls. You I never loved, 
and, if I have fometimes fuffered myfelf to befeduced by your 
deceitful delights, 1 have been fo punifhed by the griefs you have 
caufed me, by the confufion the remembrance has made in my 
confcience, that I have no fear of your entering into the plan of 
my felicity. 

" It fhall not be you, lawful objects, how tender foever the 
bonds, which unite me to you arej you are only rills of happi- 



( 607 ) 



There are fome chriftian paflions which may be 
excited either by a tender, or violent method. Re- 
pentance is of this kind, for which extremely ten- 
der motives may be employed, as the love, and 
bounty of God, which we have fo unworthily 

nefs to me, and I go to the fpring of felicity •, you are only e- 
manations of goodnefs, and I go to the bleffed God. 

" Nor (hall it be you, objects of religion. You are only 
means, and death will conduct me to the end. You are only 
the way and death will bring me home. True, I mall read no 
more excellent books, in which fuperior geniuffes have drawn 
the truth from an abyfs of prejudices, and darkneffes, where it 
was buried. I fhall no more hear difcourfes in which the preach- 
er, animated by the fpirit of God, endeavours to raife me above 
the prefent world : but I mail contemplate, I (hall hear the. e- 
ternal wifdom, and therein difcover the views, defigns, and plans 
of my creator ; and I fhall learn more in one moment of that 
union, than all books and all religious dicourfes could poffibly 
teach me. 

cc True, I fhall no more give myfelf up to you. Clofet ex- 
ercifes, holy meditations, efforts of a foul, that feeks its God s 
and which cries to him, Lord, (hew me thy glory, Lord diffi- 
pate thefe clouds, and darkneffes, which hide thee from my fight; 
let that light approach me, which has hitherto been inacceffible i 
but this light will be approached, thefe clouds and darkneffes 
will be diffipated, I fhall be no more in the clofet : but I fhall be 
like the feraphims at the foot of the throne of God, and the 
lamb. 

" True, I fhall no more know you holy facraments, augult 
ceremonies which have fo often filled my foul with confolation, 
which have fo much contributed to unite my heart to God, and 
which have fo often been to me a heaven upon earth : but I 
ihall receive you immediately, effufions of divine love ! Plea- 
sures at God's right hand ! Fulnefs of joy ! I mall . 
. . . . Alas ! Perhaps your hearts efcape me, my brethren 
perhaps thefe difpofitions, fuperior to your piety, are no longer 
the fubje&s of your attention. I have however no other direc- 
tion to give you, and the abridgment of all this difcourfe, of 'all 
my preaching, and of all my whole miniftry is, Love God, be 
to God by inclination what you are by condition and engage- 
ment, then the miferies of this life will be fupportable, and then 
the approaches of death will be delightful. God grant you this 
grace, to him be honour, and glory for ever, amen." Saitr. fer» 
torn, vilh fer^ii, furl'empire de Jefus Chrift. 



{ 608 ) 



treated. Violent motives may alfo be ufed, as 
cenfure, an enumeration and defcription of the 
enormity of the fins reigning amongft us, the hor- 
ror of our ingratitude, the fear of God's judg- 
ments, the juftice of his fcourges, and chaftifements, 
&c. * 

* « Conclufion may be mixed. 9 ' Example of a mixed con- 
clufion from Maffillon. ts The annihilation of the foul is the 
laft refource of impiety. But what punifhment would it be for 
a wicked man to be no more ? He wifhes for annihilation, and 
propofes it as his higheft hope. He lives tranquil in the midft of 
his pleafures in this agreeable expectation. What ! will the juft 
God punifh a finner by giving him what he defires ? Ah ! It is 
not thus that God punifhes. For what can the wicked find fo 
very bad in annihilation ? Would it be the privation of God ? 
But a wicked man does not love him, he does not know him, he 
will not know him, for his god is himfelf. Would it be annihila- 
tion ? But what more pleafmg to fuch a monfter, who knows 
that if he lives after death it is only to fuffer, and expiate the 
horrors of an abominable life. Would it be the lofs of worldly 
pleafures, and of all the objects of his paflions ? But when he 
ceafes to be, he mult ceafe to love. Imagine if you can a more 
defireable lot for the wicked, and fhall this after all be the fweet 
end of his debaucheries, horrors, and blafphemies ! 

" No, my brethren, the hope of the wicked lhall perifh ; but 
his crimes fhall not perifh with him. His torments will be as 
endlefs as his pleafures would have been, if he had been mafter 
pf his fate. He would fain perpetuate upon earth his fenfual 
pleafures. Death limits his crimes; but does not limit his 
criminal defires. The juft judge who fearches the heart will pro~ 
portion then the fuffering to the offence, immortal flames for in- 
tentionally immortal pleafures, and eternity itfelf will be only 
a juft compenfation, and an equality of puniftirnent. Thefe fhall 
go away into everlafting punifhment. 

" What is the conclufion of this difcourfe? That a wicked 

man is to be pitied for placing his higheft hope in a frightful 
uncertainty about revealed truths.— He is to be pitied, in that 
he is not able to live peaceably, unlefs he lives without faith, 
without worfhip, without God, without hope — that he is to 
be pitied if the gofpel muft be a fable, the faith of all ages cre- 
dulity, the confent of all men a popular error, the firft princi- 
ples of nature and reafon childifh prejudices, the blood of fo 
many martyrs, whom the hope of a futurity fupported in tor- 
ments, a concerted game to deceive mankind; the converfion of 



( 609 ) 

In like manner, firmnefs againft temptations may- 
be difcuffed ; for tender motives may be ufed, as 
the vanity of the promifes and hopes of this world, 
which are only falfe, and delufive appearances — 
the confiderations of the miferable ftate of backfliders 
and apoftates — the dignity to which God calls his 
children — the eternal rewards which attend perfever- 
ance — the joy of a good man when he has gained a 
fignal vi&ory over temptations — Violent methods 
may alfo be employed, as — infpiring an holy am- 
bition to defeat the defigns of the world — a contempt 
of the plots, and powers againft us — the hope, or 
rather the inviolable aflurance we have that all the 
powers of earth joined together cannot (hake us. St 
Paul ufes mixed motives at the end of the eighth of 
Romans. Who Jhall feparatc us from the love of 

the univerfe a human enterprize, the accomplilhment of prophe- 
cies a lucky hit, in one word, if all that is beft eftablilhed in the 
univerfe mull be found falfe, fo that he may not be eternally 
miferable. What madnefs to be able to contrive a kind of tran* 
quility made up of fomany foolifh fuppofitions! 

" O man ! / will /hew you a more excellent way* Fear this fu- 
turity, which you force yourfelf to doubt. Alk us no more what 
paffes in that other life, of which we fpeak: but aik yourfelf 
frequently what you are doing in this. Calm your confcience 
by the innocence of your manners, and not by the impiety of 
your fentiments. Set your heart at reft by calling upon God, 
and not by doubting whether he fees you. The peace of the 
wicked is only a frightful defpair, feek your happinefs, not in 
{haking off the yoke of faith, but in tailing how fweet it is. Prac- 
tife the maxims it prefcribes, and your reafon will no longer re- 
fuie to fubmit to the myfteries it propofes- Futurity will ceafe 
to be incredible to you, when you ceafe to live like thofe that 
confine all their felicity within the narrow bounds of life. Then 
far from fearing this futurity, you will haften to it in defire, 
you will figh after the happy day, when the fon of man, the 
father of the world to come, will appear to punifh infidels, and 
to receive into his kingdom all fuch as have lived in expectation 
of a bleffed immortality ." Maflll. fer. Gar. torn. i. pour le lundi 
de la i . fem. 

4 H 



( 610 ) 



Chri/l? Shall tribulation^ or di/lrefS) or persecution, 
or famine^ or nakednefs or peril) orfwordfNay^ in all 
ihefe things, we are more than conquerors through 
him that loved us. For I am pcrfuaded, that nei- 
ther deaths nor life, nor angels, nor principalities , 
nor power S) nor things prefent, nor things to come, 
nor height^ nor depth) nor any other creature Jhall he 
able tofeparate us from the love of God, zchich is in 
Jefus Chrift our Lord. * 

A conclufion mould be diverfified. I mean, we 
fhould not be content to move one fingle chriftian 
paffion, many muft be touched, and a proper length 
of difcourfe affigned to each, in order to ftir up 
the paffion. Too long time, however, muft not 
be fpent : but, when the effect is evidently pro- 
duced, pafs to another paffion. As the conclufion 
ought to be compofed at leaft of four or five re- 
flections (naturally arifing from the text, either ge- 
neral, from the whole text, or particular, from fome 
of the parts, into which it is divided) fo if poffible 

* St.Paul concludes with mixed motives. We cannot omit this 
opportunity of obferving of the beauty that fine method of 
concluding public worfhip, ufed after apoftolical example in 
chriftian churches. The preacher (huts up all by lifting holy- 
hands in prayer to God, by fpreading them over the people, and 
by faying, The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, the love of God, 
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghoftbe with you all. Amen. 
Some add other words of their own — the faving grace of our 
Lord JefuS' — the everlafting love of God the father — thefweet 
and comfortable communion of the Holy Ghoft, be and remain 
with you, and fo on. When fhall we ceafe to be wife above 
what is written ! When mall we be content with the fimplicity 
of revelation ! This, though fhort, is a fine fignificant part of 
facred worfhip, and the people fhould be taught to avoid that 
hateful cuftom of hurrying out before it is completed. It mould 
be uttered gravely, deliberately, affectionately, and kindly by the 
preacher, and it fhould be attended to in a fimilar manner by 
the people- 



( 611 ) 

thefe reflexions mull be placed in prudent order, fo 
that the weakeft and leaft powerful may be the firft, 
and the ftrongeft laft, and fo that the difcourfe may 
become more rapid as it runs. 

I think, however, it would be vicious to finifh with 
motives too violent, as fubjedts tending to horror — - 
indignation— or heavy cenfure. It would be much bet- 
ter in general to clofe with a tender, or even with an 
elevating motive. Different motives may be (and in- 
deed they ought to be) mixed injthe fame conclufion, 
that is, violent, tender, and elevated, in order to ftir up 
many paflions of different kinds. 

Conclufion fometimes delights in examples, fi- 
militudes, fhort and weighty fentences, the inventions 
of a fine imagination, and, in one word, it need not 
be either fo chafte or fo regular as the body of 
the fermon, where more accuracy muft be ob- 
ferved. There is no danger when a preacher in 
a conclufion gives himfelf up to the * fire of 

* A preacher may give himfelf up to the fire of his genius. The 
Archbifhop of Cambray, that fine cool reafoner in his other works 
is remarkable for this fire in his fermons, particularly in the con- 
clufions of them. The following Ipecimen is from a fermon of 
his own on the feaft of St Bernard. 

" Who are you, you profane men, who laugh when you fee 
a renewed finner following Jefus Chrift, and counteracting the 
torrent of all his paffions ? What then, you cannot endure that 
we mould declare ourfelves openly for the God, who created us? 
According to you it is a weaknefs to fear his eternal and almigh- 
ty juftice, and not to be ungrateful to his goodnefs. According 
to you, it is a folly to live by faith, in hope of eternal life. Who 
then are you, you that make game of religion, as well as of 
the religious ? Are you of another religion? Do not you believe 
any? Go then out of our churches, be gone from our mytteries, 
go live without hope, without Chrift, without God in the world. 
Go where your impious, and brutal defpair would hurry you. 
But alas ! who would believe it ? You are chriftians, and you 
have promifed to renounce the world, and its pomps, to carry 
the crofs after Jefus Chrift, to defpife all you fee, and to afpire 
4H2 



( 612 ) 



his genius, provided he fay nothing extravagant, or 

after invifible realities. You have promifed, you dare not de- 
ny your promife, you dare not renounce your falvation, you 
tremble when approaching death mews you the abyfs that o- 
pens under your feet. Miferable wretches ! foolilh people ! 
You would have us think you wife, and you treat thofe as fools, 
who, hoping for benefits which you pretend not to have renoun- 
ced,labour to obtain them.O deft ruction ofcommon-fenfelO mon- 
ftrous folly! O devils, you polTefs them, it is not they that fpeak,it 
is you whobiafpheme in them. We want my brethren, another Ber- 
nard though I know not whetherthe impiety,unknown in his age, 
but fafhionable in ours, would not refill all his doctrine and all his 
miracles. Does he not fpeak to you every day by his writings, and 
by hiftories of his times which atteft what he did? Let us hear 
him, my brethren: at leaft in this day harden not your hearts. O 
my children, (Thus he fpeaks, and thus he has a right to fpeak to 
you) O my children ! Muft I then rife up in judgment againft 
you ? The light which your fathers faw, and which from ge- 
neration to generation has been reflected even on you, does it 
only ferve to difcover your iniquities ? What have I not fuffered 
that I might prefent you all together as a virgin without fpot to 
the holy bridegroom ? But what do I fee amongft you ! O my 
children ! I have offered you a blefling, and you have rejected 
it. The curfe will come, it will come, and you will be over- 
whelmed with it. It will diftil on your heads drop by drop to 
the end. No, I will no longer be your father, I will harden 
my heart, and my foul {hall reject you for ever. I will forget 
you, I will be alhamed of you at the coming of Jefus Chrift, 
and I will demand of him vengeance for my words, or rather 
for his which you have fo often defpifed." Fen. Oeuvres philof. 
torn. ii. p. 27c. 

I conclude thefe notes with one word of Bp. Burnet's, and 
one of Bp. Wilkin's. 

The former fays, "Artificial eloquence without a flame with- 
in, is like artificial poetry, all its productions are forced and un- 
natural, and in a great meafure ridiculous. Art helps, and 
guides nature: but if one was not born with this flame, art will 
only fpoil, and make him redundant. A man muft have in 
himfelf a deep fenfe of the truth and power of religion. He 
muft have a life and flame in his thoughts with relation to thefe 
fubjects. He muft have felt in himfelf thofe things, which he 
intends to explain, and recommend to others. There is an au- 
thority in the fimpleft things that can be faid when they carry 
vifible characters of genuinenefs in them " Palt care, chap. 



( 613 ) 

capricious, nothing that favours of enthufiafin, or de* 
clamation. 

Bp. Wilkin fays, " As the milder affections TA ethe, do 
beft fuit with the introduction, which infinuates into the love, 
and attention of the hearers 5 fo ta pathe, the more eager, and 
vehement affections will beft become the conclufions." « But, 
£adds he from Luther) bene orafle, eft bene ftuduiiTe. And this 
indeed is the foul of all. Wilk. Ecclefiaftes. 

Give attendance to reading, exhortation, and (bclrine. Negletl 
not the gift that is in thee, meditate upon thefe things, give thyfelf 
wholly to them. Take heed to thyfelf, and to thy dotlrine, continue 
in them-, for in doing this l thou Jhalt both fave thyfelf ] and them thai 
hear thee* Paul to Tim* 



IIDEX 



TO THE WORK. 

ABBA, Father, meaning of, 159 
Abbadie proves the truth of revelation by its do&rine of 
love 203 

Adam. Various opinions concerning his original ftate 248 
Adam Melchior, commends Luther's methods of inftrucling the 
poor 65 

Adams, Dr example from him 325 

Addifon, his remark on Bunyan's lempk Spiritualized, 84 

Reproves raillery in religion 371 
Ahijah, book of, What, 148 
Allix, his argument from prophecy 240 

Alting, Henry, his evidences of the perfection of the holy 
canon 143 

Ambrofe advifes caution in fpeaking of the divine decrees* 
*3 2 > l8 3 

Ammianus Marcellinus taxes Chriftians with their cruelty to 

each other 1 1 
Antichrift, marks of, 295 

Apothegms, mould not be ufed often in preaching 598 
Application continual, what 497 

Properties of, 499 
Ariftippus, to what he likened great readers, 536 
Ariftotle, his ethics formerly read in churches inftead of fcrip- 
ture 55 

Advifes a judicious choice of topics, 303 
Aflembly of man mifreprefented and abufed 324 
Afterius, or Afturius, Bp of Amalia, his juft notion of merit 429 
Athanafian creed, 570, &c. 
Athens, the fcandalous idolatry and vice of 371 
Attention, how beft acquired 585 &c. 
Atterbury, Bp. his craft 305 
Auguftine, St. of the plagues of Egypt, 75 
Recommends prayer to preachers 115 
And variety of method in preaching 288 
His endlefs queftions, 258 
Avarice, what 348 

Injurious to fociety, 351 
Incompatible with chriftianity 35s 



INDEX. 



651 



B 

Barbon, his ranting defence of liturgies, 494 

Barker, the part he took in Salter's-hall fermons, 435 

Baronius, his account of Jewifh Apoftles 68 

Barrow Dr wrote well on Papal fupremacy 197 

Bartoloccius, how he argued againft a popular ufe of fcripture 33 

Barrow, Bp. directed prayer to be faid for his foul after death 

433 ; ; . 

Bafil, what he thought of merit 428 
Baxter, example from him 297 

Bayle, his excellent remarks on reafon, and volition 549 

Beaufobre, how he pleads for toleration 369 
His account of Saul's converfion, &c. 369, 370 
Exonerates minifters from the charge of avarice 356 

Bede, his account of Eafter4iomilies 385 

Bennet afierts the fufficiency of fcripture 253 

Bentley, Dr. what he laid of free-thinking 321 

Beyerlinck, of fear 334 

Biddle, his reading of Phil. ii. 6. 178 

Blair, Dr. his chronology referred to 260 

Blackwall, his encomiums on the ftyle of the apoftles commif* 
(ion 411 

Cenfures the prefent divifion of the bible 534 
Blandford, Bp. prayed for the dead 433 
Boerhaave, what prevented his ftudying divinity 242, 243 
Boileau would have rhjfme fubfervient to reafon 99 
Bonnivard pleaded for toleration at Geneva 374 
Book of the wars of the Lord, what 148 
Bourignon, Madam, what me thought of Adam 248 

His quaint ufe of fcripture 220 
Bonner, Bp. what he faid of the reformers retaining popifh 

ceremonies 380 
Borromeo, a fine contrail of his 413 
Bolton, how he confiders the moral ftate of man, 373 
Bradford, Bp example from him 328 
Breithaupt, referred to 294 

Brochmand, his definition of a gofpel miniflry 195 

His account of Chrift's kingly office 314 
Brown, cenfures vulgar errors 215, 216 

Bruyere, La, his character of ancient and modern preaching 73 

Bucher, a fanciful expofitor 221 

Buddeus, his ftandard of church purity 222 
His juft notions of church government 223 
What abilities he thought neceflary in a preacher 1 1 1 

Bunyan, his library 76 

Burnet Bifliop, his rule of preaching to plain people 61 . 612 

Cenfures numerous quotations 73 
Burgh, Efq. his juft cenfure of hiftorical aflumption 39! 



616 



INDEX. 



Buxtorf elucidates fcripture by Rabbinnical writings 256 
Bythner, his account of Selah 118 

C 

Cabin, whether S. Paul alludes to them 276 
Csefar, referred to 449 

Calmet, Father, his canon of interpretation, 244 
Calovius, his method of expounding fcripture 223 
Caligula, his intentional wickednefs 467 
Calvin on 2 Col. vi. 1. 268 

On CoL i. 20. 226 
Cannell, how he ftatesthe cafe of the pretender 305 
Cappells, the two elucidated fcripture by rabbinnical writings 
256 

Catechifm, epifcopal, abftrufe on the facrament 316 
Cennick, fome unguarded afibciations in his hymns, 207 
Chaderton, his excellent manner of preaching 162 
Chaftity, in preaching, what 296 
Chandler, Dr. his fevere cenfure of popery 410 

His part in Salter's-hall fermons 43 5 
Charnock, why he calls fin deicide 467 
Chronology 260 
Cicero, examples from him 378 

Clarke, Dr. Samuel his excellent description of moral obliga* 
tion 550 
On a Hebrew idiom 284 
Examples from him 287, 289, 304 
Clarke, Rev. Mr Samuel, his lives contain many improbabi» 
lities 3 76 

Cocceius, his method of expounding fcripture, 223 
Cole, Eliflia, his method of expounding fcripture 223 
Common placing 112, &c. 
Coney, Dr example from him 183 
Connection of particles 283 
Cornelius, his fenfe of Col. ii. 3. 67 
Comparifon, a beautiful topic 456 
Coneybeare, his propofitional points 547 

His proper reply to Hobbes's noftrums 549 

Subject to no authority but that of God 492 
Contraft, a fine topic 416 

Converfion, ordinary mould be diftinguifhed from extraordinary 
517 

Cragius, his tale of aDanifhbigotted biftiop 35 

His idea of chriftian morality 277 
Crudenhis fenfe of Jer. xiii. 23. 294 
Cudworth, example from him 297 

Daill|, his method of preaching 1 90 

Da^es, Archbilhop, his odd choice of fubjeds 302, 303 



INDEX. 



61? 



Death, a fine applicatory topic, 509 
Definition, a topic &c. 455 
Deicide, what 467 
Diftin&ion, a topic 455 
Divifion, 78 

Doomfday, book of, in the nature of the Roman enrollment 2^6 
Dorington, his fermon at Tunbridge 301 

Dornavius, the proper ufe of his Sapientia jocoferia 99,ieo,422 
Drake, his numerous divifions 79 
Drufius elucidates fcripture by Rabbinical writings 256 
Dry den, his fine character of Bp. Butler 460 
Duport, Dr. on the word Lord 240 
Durham, Rev. William, example from him 291 

E 

Eafter, no fuch word in S. Luke 316 
Edwards, Dn his liberal principles 150 

Dr Jonathan, on original fin 271 

Rev. Jonathan, what he thought of great talkers of 
religion 521 
Example of juft inference from him 392 
Eleufis, the abominable myfteries of 371 
Elements of Criticifm, judicious remarks of the author of, on v*» 

rious fubjects 323, 33? 
Energeo, meaning of 91 
Enfield recommends unit j of defign 1 93 
Enthufiafm, what 590 
Erafmus, His fenfe of Col» ii. 3. 67 
Referred to 198 

How he expounds /peaking to the heart, 381 
Evidence, a topic 444 
Excommunication, a brief hifiory of it 449 
Exordium, what 594 

F 

Farel, intolerant 274 

FafUday-fermons, view a proper rule of compofing 395 
Fear, what 334 

Fenelon makes love the eflence of religion 155 

What he thought made an accomplished preacher 163, 189 

Example of natural divifion from him 89, 341 

His fine foliloquy on the brutality of impiety 574 3cc 

Flattery odious in a pulpit 384 

Flavel, example of divifion from him 79 

Flechier, examples from him 361, 406, 407, &c. 

Flechier, Archbifhop, Examples from him 105, 157, 270, 34! 

Fofter, Dr. his notion of myfteries in religion 246 

Fofter, his fevere cenfure of hierarchical principles 243 

Foulkes, his fcrupulofity 217 

Forbes, Bp. held purgatory 433 



618 



INDEX. 



Fox, John, relates fome miraculous events 376 
Fulgentius, his fenfe of Rom. vii. 25. 153 
Funeral fermons 60 

Funeral fermons, how properly compofed fometimes 396 

G 

Gale, Thomas, his fenfe of Eph.vi. 12. 230 

Gale, Theoph. his notion of divine love 201 

Gallatin, example from him 288 

Garth reproves fimony, 259 

Gauzza, his jocular praife of flattery 422 

Genealogies of Jefus Chrift 259, 260 

Gerhard, referred to 294 

Gefner, referred to 119 

Gibbes, Pr examples from 186, 187 

Gibbons, Dr referred to 109 
Examples from him 392 

Gibbon, what fome think of his decline of the Roman empire 391 

Gill ? Dr elucidates fcripture by Jewifh writings 256 
How he ftates the mellenium 238 
of Abba Father 75 
His fenfe of Mat v. 29. 463 

Gnoffics, who 482 

trlam* us, referred to 150, 266 

Goodwin Dr the fault of his fermons 69 
Diftinguifhes mercy from love 392 
How he confiders mental immortality 446 

Gothofred, his fenfe of 1 Cor. xi. 10. 219 

Gouge {hews the inefhcacy of the law to expiate fin 239 

Gouffet, his expqfitiqn of Gen. iii. i{. 349 

of Solomons four wonderful things 244 

Grace, whether it deftroys free agency 278 
Irrefiftible, how &c. 124 

Gregory, his notion of Jon of violence 220 

Gregory, Pope, his notion of an angelical hierarchy, 230 

Gregory of Nazianzem, how he argued againft the domineering 
party 406, &c. 

Gurnal recommends fcripture knowledge 111 

Guyfe trifles on John's baptifm 75 

Hades, the meaning of, 95 

Haliburton, what he thought foftered deifm, 191 
Hammond, His fenfe of Rom. iv. 1. 101 
Harris, Dr his part in Salter's hall fermons, 435 

His juft notion of John vi. 1. 316 
Hardouin, Father, his unaccountable criticifms 119 
Heerebeqrd, what hejuftly calls one of the moft important que? 

(lions in divinity, 155 
Hemecius, his moral philofophy, 272 



INDEX- 6 i9 

HeinGus, referred to 153 

Henry, Matthew, his ufual method of preaching, 59 
Fanciful expofition of Judg. ix. 73 
Mat. v. 20. 463 

Hector, on what principles he foretold the death of Achilles? 14 

Herbet, Lord, an enthufiaft, 376 

Hierarchy, angelical who invented it, &c. 242 

Englifh, founded on popifh principles 243 
Hickeringill, his abfurd reafoning for prelacy, 349 
Hollingworth his partiality, 217, 218 
Home, David, his repartee on popery, 244 
Hoornbeek, how he fays the gofpel ought to be ftated to the 
Jews, 166 

Holcroft, his opinion of the Englifh hierarchy, 383 
Holinefs, indifpenfible, &c. 569, 

Hooker, whence he fays errors on the doctrine of ChrifVs na- 
ture proceed, 417 
Hopkins, Bifhop, example from him, 182 
Horton, Dr. his ideas of difinterefted love to Gdti, 199 
Hofpinian what firft fuggefted to him the neceffity or writing 

againft fuperftition, 75 
Hottinger, what he calls the beft method of interpreting fcrip« 
ture, 162 

Hofpinian cenfures Jefuitical morality, 446 
Hudibrafs, proves nothing 372 

Hughes, Dr his fevere fatire on popifh invocation, 436 
Hume, his motive in writing the hiftory of England, 391 
Humfrey, fanciful examples from him, 323 
His logic, 73 

A mere grammaticafter, 73 
Hulfius on Daniel xi. 255 

Hypocrites, chriftians forbidden to refemble, 485, &c. 
Hypothefis, what, 280, 

Iddo, book of, what 148 

Implication, what, 359 

Inevidence, a topick of illuft ration, 299 

Infants, various opinions of the ftate of 557 

Infinite, what, 331 

Ifidore of Damietta, obferves the ufe of obfcurily in fcripture 
266 

J. 

Jacombe, Dr. example from him, 329 

Jarry, Du, his juft and beautiful remark on the various abilities 

of preachers, 65 
JaQier, book of, what, 148 
Jenkyn, example from him, 207 208 
4I 2 



020 



INDEX* 



Jenner, his curious fermon on St Luke's day, 182 

Jofephus referred to, 439 

J unification, what, 458 

Juftinian canons, good hiftory, 360 

Juftin Martyr recommends prayer, from his own experience, 



Keeker man, ProfefTor, his rules, for acquiring eafe, 404 

His account of a preacher, who made a fad miftake in reading 
an old homily, 375 376 
Of confutation, 395 
On conclulion, 602 
Kennet, Bp. example from him, 300 302 
Kennicott, Dr referred to, 1 22 
Knittel, Father, Kyrios, what, 240 

L. 

Labata, his abufe of idioms 188 
Labbeus, quoted, and referred to 271 
La&antius, 167 

Lambecius, what he thought of Adam, 249 
Lami, his fair account of the apoftles, and primitive chriftians^ 
224 225 

I atimer, Bifhop, what application had like to have coft him, 
500 

Launoi, De, to what he attributes the error of the attritioniib. 

Law, Bifhop, his good canon of interpreting fcripture, 117 
Leighton, Archbifhop, what he thought of high life, 381 
Le Clerc, what he would have a divine ftudy, 80 

On the ufe of fyllogifm 1 01 

On terms and ideas, 121 

On corruption of the original fcriptures, 122 

On unity of fubjeel: 286 

Referred to, or quoted 259 
Ley decker, what he thought corrupted chriftianity 73 
Leger, example from him 430 

Lightfoot, Dr. his opinion of Chrift's genealogy 259 

Elucidates fcripture by Rabbies 256 

Yet juftly cenfures them 85 
Lindfey, Rev. Mr. what fome think of his reafoning 391 
Lipenius enumerates common-place writers 113 4 
Locke, his generous notions of government 211 

His opinion of the ufe of fyllogifm, 98 

His general view of St Paul's principles, 77 
Logos, what 247 
Long, quoted, 349 

Longinus what he calls fublimity 436 . 

Lucas Brugenfis, his fenfe of Rom. viia^. 153 



INDEX. 



Luther,kow he diffufed religious knowledge among the poor^j 
Lye, his numerous divifions, 79 

M. 

Maius referred to, 294 
Manningham, Dr. referred to, 301 
Manton, Dr. his juft notions of the bed fermons 46a 
Marckius, his objections againft pre-exiftence, 251 252 
Marets, Des, his chief objection againft the Millenamns, 
239 

IMTarfham referred to, 159 255 
Martyrdom, how the fathers confidered it 379 
Mafley, his cenfure of inoculation, 569 
Maffillon, Bifhop, cenfures formal minifters, 209 

Advifes his clergy to ftudy fcripture, X13 

Examples from him 89 340 &c. 
Mathurin, St. his bufinefs in the church of Rome 436 
Matthias, Dr. cenfures finical preaching 303 
Mattaire, compofed the title of a book of fuppofition, $62, 
Mede his account of the grand apoftacy, 1 76 
Melan&hon, his advice on common-placing 279 
Mercy, a vague word, 392, 

Whether the fathers held the doctrine of 457 
Metaphors, how to treat 70 &c. 
Milton cenfures hypocrify 478 &c» 
Milburne, Luke, a feditious preacher, 2c 8 
Millenarian divines, how they ftate their doctrine 238 
Miffal, Roman, quoted 222 

Montagne, what kind of genius made the bell preacher in his 
opinion 68 
His ftyle, 390 
Montanus, his herefy, what, 127 
Molhiem, his account of Cocceiusand Grotius, 223 

Quoted 315 
Mofs, Dean, example from him. 314 

Moulin, Du Lewis, cenfures ceremonies, and the ground of or- 
daining them, 380 
Ridicules the pretence of retaining, popiih rites 384 
Mufculus, on the ufe of common-places, 113 

N. 

Neal, Rev. Daniel, his part in Salter's-hall fermons 435 
Neceflity popular, is that of fcripture, 442 
Newcombe, Dr. example from him 322 

Newton, Sir Ifaac, his idea of the figurative ftyle of fcripture, 
70 

What firfl fet him a thinking on the law of motion 75 
Referred to 8 1 255 



622 



INDEX. 



Newton, Bifhop, on the departing of the fceptre of Judah 
257 

Referred to 80 

O. 

Obfcurity, the frequent occafion of it 61 
Optimift, Voltaire's proves nothing 372 
Ordination fermons, defign a proper topic of 395 
Original fin 271 

Owen, Dr John, his rational account of the fpirit's operations 
91. 

The fault of his fermons 69 

P. 

Pagitt complains of vulgar errors in ehriftianity 216 
Parker, Bifhop, Sam. his ground of church-polity 347 
Parrefia, what 321 
Particles, what 283 

Pereira, his notion of Preadamites, 250 

Perkins his method of preaching 107 

Defective in his knowledge of the two ceconomies 398 
Petavius, his notion of an angelical hierarchy 230 
Petit, how he proved aflaffination a virtue 78 
Philofophy, Pagan, its defects 299 
Place, atopic 378 
Pleflis, Du 439 

Pluche Abbee, on idolatry 446 

Plutarch, his jocular praife of an enemy, 422 

Polybius on what principles he foretold the fate of Rome 

Pope Alexander, cenfures difputatious divines 264 

Porphyry, what he faid of Daniel's prophecy 255 

Prayer effential to a preacher 115 

Preachers, modern Englifh, their character 58 

Preaching requires a fingular ability, 58 

Pre-exiftence, various opinions of 250 

Prepofitions 283 284 

Prideaux, Dean, his account 260 

Of the fuperior glory of the fecond temple 83 ^ 

Of the importance of public preaching 62 
Providence, doctrine of 281 282 

Prynne, William, a violent enemy to the Quakers 426 427 
Puente, Father, his partial felf-examination 135 
PufFendorl, harmonizes ehriftianity and civil polity 274] 
quoted 194 

Quakers, people called, abufed in fcripture^ftyle 426 
Quefnel, Father, his plain reflections on John i. 14. 159 
Quintillian, his notion of decorum 68 &c. 



INDEX. 



623 



m 

Rabbies, poor expofitors 85 

Radcliffe, Dr. his library 76 

Reading, why fome derive little benefit from it 279 

Reafoning 296 &c. 

Readers, advice to great 536 

Reizius, his opinion of Annas and Caiphas 256 257 
Retz, Cardinal de, what makes him appear obfeure 236 
Repentance, legal and evangelical 529 &c. 
Refolutions 535 

Reynolds, Bp. examples from him 291 

Dr. examples from him 329 
Robinfon, John, his juft remarks on a difputatious fpirit 205 
206. 

Roche De, his method of defending myfteries 247 
Rollin, how he defines tafte 325 

On metaphors 70 

On obfeurity 61 

On ftudying the fathers 1 19 
Romaine cenfures Warbunton's legation 140 
Rofleau, his notions of civil fociety 211 
Rudd, Sayer, his arguments for pre-exiftence 250 251 
Ruft, Bp. endeavoured to revive Origenifm 250 

S. 

Sacheverell, a feditious preacher 208 
Salter's-hall fermons confound popery 435 
Sandeman his doctrine not libertine 471 
Sanderfon, Dr. example from him 403 

Saurin, Rev. James how he advifes divines to treat the divine 
attributes 490 

And to preach the doctrine of hell 553 
How he treats the fubjecl: of the converted thief 516 

Of converfion 517 &c. 
Examples from him 64 72 80 82 86104 ico i8e 
Scaliger, Jofeph, referred to 255 
Schlichting, his expofition of Rom. iv. 1. 100 
Schulzius, what he thought of Adam 248 
Sclater Dr. his inaccuracy 302 

his juft cenfure of perfecutors 412 
Seneca hurt the latin language 68 

His opinion of great libraries 121 
Shakefpear quoted 410 585 

Shaftefbury, Earl of, how he attacked revelation 372 
Sheldon, Archbifliop, a poor divine 225 
Sherlock, Dean, Example from him 427. 
Silvanus, Abbot, how he taught a Monk the docVme of con* 
fequences 390 



INDEX. 



Simon, Father, his hypothefis on the archives of religion 259 

His opinion of the maforetical leclion 147 
Simony, what 257 
Skleros, what it means 123 
Smalridge, Bp. example from him 289 
Smith, his part in Salter's-hall fermons 435 
Snape, Dr. example from him 208 209 
Solomon, book of the ads of, what 148 

Spon, his account of the Genevan intolerance at the reforma- 
tion 274 

Sprat, Bp. example from him 305 

Stanhope, Dean, examples from him 458 &c. 

Stephens, Robert, how he publiihed the New Teftament, 

; 534 • 

Stillingfieet, his felf-contradiclion, 383 

His rule of difcu fling myfteries 131 
Superftition its principles 338 &c. &c. 
Swift, how he ftudied human nature 380 

Proved nothing by his tale of a Tub 373 
Syllogifm, its ufe and abufe 97 
Syncategorematica. See Confignificative. 94 

T. 

Tenifon, Archbiihop, on idolatry 76 
Tefmar examples from him 193 

The origin of taking one to preach from 55 
Thankfgiving fermons, a good rule of compofing 396 
Thecla wrote the Alexandrian manufcript 233 
Theophylacl: reproves human inventions in religion 198 
Thorndyke, his loofe maxim of church-government 349 

Did not underftand the ground of the reformation 433 
Tillemont quoted 516 

Tillotfon's high encomium of the church that beneficed him 

Topic, a principle of perfuafion; but Tubje£r. to ufe and a« 
bufe, 324 

Tranfubftantiation, what, and when invented 315 
Trigland, his account of Jewim feds 361 
Trinity 251 

Turretin, his manner of treating of temporal profperity 228 

229 

Referred to 300 

U. 

Uniformity, 317 &c. 

Urbanity, a mod excellent pulpit ftyle 320 

Urfinus his rules of confutation 395 

Ufher, Archbifhop a pretended prophecy of his 376 

His fenfe of hades, 95 
Utility, a topic of illultration 443 



INDEX. 



625 



Vicar of Bray immortal 355 
Villaret his account of ancient orations 78 
Vink, Dr. what he thought of Adam 248 
Vitringa his general method of preaching 295 

Examples from him 80 1S1 
Vives, Ludovicus, complains of the corruption of eloquence 
. 305 

Voltaire, what he faid of Dr. Sam. Clarke 53 
Afuperficial reafoner on religion 372 
Vollius, Ger. Joh. on invention 1 1 1 
Quoted 95 

W. 

Wagenfeil referred to 255 

Ward, Bp. examples from him 320 557 

Waterland, Dr. example from him 315 

Watts, Dr. of conceiving clear notions 321 &c. &a 

His account of Syllogifm 98 

Referred to 300 
Whifton his expofition on a part of the revelation 75 

What events he thought preparatory to revival 347 
Whitaker, example from him 309 
Wilkins, Bp. his notion of the gift of preaching 56 

Of compofition 112 
Worden, his way of expounding types 84 
Worfley quoted 532 534 

Wright, Dr. his part in Salter's-hall fermons 435 

Young Dr. quoted 156 167 241 242 253 261 342 353 457 

513 z. 

Zepper, his rules of confutation 395 



TAJSILE 

OF THE 

TEXTS, 

More or less illustrated in this Volume. 



Genefis. 




Ch. V. 


Page. 


i I 


86 


iii 1$ 


80 


■- 22 




V. I 


I48 


xxii 1 4 


117 


— 12 


373 


xxxi 4 2 


?42 


xxxix 9 


SM 


xlv 3 


368 


Exodus. 




iii 21, 22 


373 


iv i 30 


3 6 7 


v 1 


367 


— ■ 4i7 


506 


— 20 


333 


xix 1 


75 


xx 19 


146 


Leviticus. 




xviii 1 8 


37 6 


xxiii 7 


5 2 9 


Numbers. 




xxi 9 


382 


— 14 


148 



Deuteronomy. 

'ii 2 '3 4 373 

iv 1 585 



Deuteronomy. 

iv 78 366 
— 10 492 

v 1 &c. 492 

vi 6 7 &c 492 

vii 1 2 373 
xviii 15 16 162 
xxix 29 183 
xxxvii 11 12 13 417 



Jofhua. 
i 2 329 

x 13 148 



Ruth. 






422 


Judges 




ix 33 14 4 


409 


xiii 22 


3 2 3 


1 Samuel. 




ii 6 


95 


— 2 7 


4 o 5 


— 3° 


3*3 


xii 6 15 


408 


xiv 15 


426 


xv 17 


4*5 


xxi 11 


148 


xxiv 7 


148 


xxvii 9 


373 


xxxii 10 


379 


2 Samuel. 


4 K 2- 





i 


18 


14S 


V 


8 


220 


xi 


14 


*49 


xu 


1 


352 


xvii 


1 


377 


X 


Kings. 




i 


5 


303 


iii 


6 


IOJ 


iv 


29 


t6 S 




32 


149 


viii 


18 


467 


xi 


41 


148 


xiv 


* 18 


188 




3 


367 


xviii 


2 7 


354 


xix 


11 12 &c. 


539 




20 


42* 


XX 


33 34 


53? 


xxi 


1 


352 


xxii 


28 


585 



2 Kings, 

i 9 10 18 372 

v 26 376 

xviii 4 382 



2 Chronicles 



ix 


29 


148 


xviii 


7 


593 


xix 


8 


444 


xxvi 


*,9 


196 



628 



A TABLE OF TEXTS 



xxx 1 8 


409 


Ezra. 




x 910 II 


409 


Nehemiah. 




ii 3 


343 


vi 1 1 


300 


viii 123 


l S° 


— 678 


53 


Job. 




1 1 


343 


V 2 


286 


xii 2 


354 


— 6 


382 


XX 22 


202 


xxii 8 


3 6 7 


xxxi 15 




xxxiv 16 


437 


xxxvii 18 


169 


Pfalms. 




i 1 


484 


2 


492 


ii 11 12 


334 


iii 3 


118 


^iii 5 


229 


ix 18 * 


221 


x 13 


483 


xiv 1 


467 


— 9 


542 


xvi 5 


95 


xxii 22 


472 


xxvii 8 


533 


xxix 4 


492 


xxxiv 11 


5*3 


— 5 


392 


xl 9 


373 


1 14 


3 2 5 


Ixix 21 


308 


Ixxxi 3 4 


383 


xcv 7 8 


86 


ci 22 467 535 


ca 4 


596 


— . 18 


472 


cv 26 27 


378 


cvii 1 * 


483 



Plalms. 



C1X 


4 


221 


cxii 


9 


298 


cxix 


36 


35 1 




45 4^ 


386 


GXX 


7 


326 


exxix 


2 


3°9 


exxx 


4 


187 


exxxtx 3 


33 2 


cxlvii 


5 


33 1 



Proverbs. 



i 


1 2 


474 




26 


C42 


ii 


*3 


183 


vi 


9 


3 2 3 


x 


1 9- 


3°3 




23 


301 


xi 


3i 


5io 


xiv 


1 


r O f 




21 


393 


xvi 


4 


& 7 




3 2 


3*4 


xxvii 


7 


3 uo 




8 


35 6 


xxi 


19 


3°7 


xxii 


4 


543 




2 


10 1 


xxiii 


26 


202 


XXV 


6 


280 


xxvii 


1 


200 


xxx 


1819 




xxxi 


25 26 


321 


Ecclefiaftes. 




i 


9 10 


405 


ii 


1 1 


307 


iii 


1-8 


373 


vi 


3 


35 6 


vii 


10 


405 


viii 


11 12 


562 


X 


10 


510 


xi 


9 


555 


xii 


2 


O02 




10 11 


489 




1 1 


461 


Iiaiah. 




i 


26 


238 



Ifaiah. 

i 13 15 383 

1 1 376 

v 1 1 12 302 

viii 9 284 

xi 10 377 

xiv 2122 298 

xxvi 9 301 

xxviii 14 585 

xxix 8 155 156 

xxx 18 529 
xxxviii 15 498 
xl 2 381 
xlv 3 228 
lv 6 377 
lx 1 89 
— 2 412 
Ixiv 47 10 1 1 525 



Jeremiah. 

\ 14 427 

11 2 5 20 415 

iv 6 427 

vii 22 284 

xiii 23 294 

xvi 11 12 405 

xviii 78 383 

xxv . 31 444 

xxvi 17 18 19 405 
xxviii 16 377 
xliii 2 138 



Ezekiel. 

viii 3 580 

xvi 4 415 

— 23 380 



— 3° 33 


5°5 


x:x 25 


284 


xxix 18 


228 


xxxiv 24 1 7 1 8 


23 24 


476 


xxxvi 26 


294 


Daniel 




ix 7 


85 


x 23 


506 


xi 2 


150 



21 &C. 254 2y5 



A TABLE OF TEXTS. 6<29 



Hofea. 



ii 


7 


471 






381 


V 


1 


444 


vi 


4 


425 




6 


284 


vt 


1 2 


201 


Joel. 






ii 


2 


380 



Amos, 
viii 12 13 
— 11 12 



Micah. 
t 2 

T 4 
vi 2 

— 345 

— 9 



Nahum . 

* 3 
ii — 



Habakkuk. 
6 7 
13 
16 
1 &c. 



Haggai. 
ii 9 



Zechariah. 
iii 4 7 

Malachi. 
7 



Matthew, 
i 16 
— 21 
1 
6 
ii 



n 



379 
80 



283 
437 
444 
3 6 9 
525 



529 
378 



343 
284 

282 
583 



83 



201 



295 



U 



HI 



260 
192 
222 
283 
222 



Matthew. 
1 
2 

7 
7 
1 1 
16 
5 

18 
16 

20 

T 

20 



— 2 



24 
816 

33 
14 
1 1 
16 

— 29 30 

r- 22 

— 27 
12 

J 5 
4 
40 
40 41 
1 



vn 

viii 

x 



XI 



XII 



xm 



XV 



XVI 



24 

10 

24 
18 

5 
22 

24 



378 
453 
334 
283 
284 
283 
75 
H7 

3 £ S 
278 

378 

463 
281 

486 
228 
509 

141 
289 
184 

575 
409 

220 

585 
409 
us 
284 
378 

191 

585 
284 
289 
596 
423 
3 6 9 



— "24 25 26 27 422 
xvii 
xviii 
xix 
xxi 



6 12 
20 
16 
2 5 
2 5 
5 
4 
10 



Matthew, 

xxv 41 302 

xxvii 29 372 

xxviii 20 195 

Mark. 



xxu 
xxiii 

— 89 

— 27 29 3< 
xxv 24 

— 43 





2 


5 I 4 


viii 


34 


267 


xii 


26 


14a 


xvi 


15 


•83 




16 


418 



Luke. 



43 
2 
22 

23 2 59 

g 

vii 8 9 10 &c. 

ix 50 &c. 

x 20 

— 3 1 32 

— 42 

44 

47 48 

5 
21 

40 



xn 



49 2 
409 
300 
564 
¥83 

484 
188 
492 
1 484 
123 124 
406 



xm 

xyi 
xviii 
xx 
xxii 



I XXlll 



XXIV 



24 

2 3 

22 &C. 
25 26 

42 44 
29 
34 
43 
40 



506 
256 
283 
260 
378 

55 

222 
422 

422 

35 6 
390 
484 
405 

96 

3U 
299 
280 
508 
96 

393 
422 

3°5 

49 2 
416 
86 

455 
79 
410 



John. 
1 14 

H 
16 

2 

2 3 



»59 
152 
170 

379 
178 



630 



A TABLE OF TEXTS. 



John* 

iii i 2 3 4 5 64 

— 13 251 

— 16 96 

iv 10 103 

— 24 180 

— 23 492 

— o 6 379 

— 28 506 

v 13 396 

— 14 386 

— 39 492 

— 39 140 
"7 59 3 C 9 

vi — 316 

— 60 323 

— 62 251 

~r s 6 418 

— 27 39 o 

T 6 7 3 6 9 

vn . 27 562 

— 4^ 4*5 
~— 41 224 
viii 58 25 j 

— 2 378 

— 144246 391 

T 37 39 40 42 

44 366 

x 4 437 

~~! 3* 421 

xii 26 3/3 

xiii 13 & Co 422 

— 672728 418 
xly 1 436 

— JO 443 

— 15 104 

— 27 302 

xv — 104 

— 2 4 467 

xvi 23 4S9 

19 104 

— 12 127 

xvii 5 251 

xviii 20 378 
xx 31 396 
xxl 23 422 



Adts. 



11 



V 

vi 



vn 



*5 

7 

27 
37 38 
4041 

37 
46 

32 
1 2 

13 
*7 
3 
58 
2 
22 

— SIS2 

— 59 

ix 5 

— 4 

x 6 

xi 26 

xii 4 

— 22 

xiii 7 
— ■ 10 

— 27 

33 
4 
ir 

7 
21 



xiv 

XV 



402 

440 
303 
224 

183 

95 
183 
183 
461 

378 
328 
76 
225 
140 
343 
343 
586 

329 

405 
181 

122 
$68 
224 

*93 
t 318 
338 
343 368 
343 
437 
534 
118 

338 
444 
55 



xvl Z S 33 34 40409 
— ; 27 28 



xvn 



xvm 



ii 

22 
3 
4 
21 



xix 

— 24 25 

— 18 

xx iS 47 38 

— 28 

xxi — 



422 
492 
586 
224 

55 
378 
253 
444 

439 
409 

.?8i 



Ads 

xxii 9 307 

xxiv 25 374 

— 10 301 

— .M15 

XXVI 20 22 30I 

— M 370 

— . 28 183 

xxvii 17 3-78 

xxviii 23 183 

— 5 ^ 326 



Romans— 

I 7 492 

::~ 29 343 

II 2 7 343 
77-91216 374 

i" 2 148 

— 28 81 276 

— j 6 474 

— 25 532 

— 27 397 

— 28 383 

IV I 99 IGO 

— 3 400 

317 534 

v 1 81 

— 20 133 

vi H 397 

— 12 1 01 

— 17 284 

t: 23 74 

vn 18 467 

— 1 138 

— 5 138 

~ 2 * '53 

vni 1 74 

— 7 4^7 

— 13 545 
7 37 400 

1 3 x8 9 

x 10 J75 

— 16 J 9 534 

xiv 2 449 

— 1 407 

xv 4 147 266 



A TABLE OF TEXTS- 631 



1 

1 


Corinthians. 


2 Corinthians. 




*~J Uil^ in (Alio* 






30 


f 1 A 

514 


V 


1 9 






8 9 10 


97£ 


11 


3 


301 


VI 


1 fl 
xO 


4,1 PI 


in 


2 to 13 


74. 




26 


Zz4 




1 
1 


9f\P. 




Q 


1 Q f 




1 4 


A A O 

448 


Vlll 


1 9 Rrr 


<*74« 


iv 


8 &c. 


194 




9 


CO £ 

525 




1 9 


A'JtJ / 




11 12 


195 


... 

til 


1 £ 
lp 






1 2 

X A 


224 




26 284 286 




9 


1 A fi 

149 




Q 


9^1 


v 


O 0 


OOP 




11 


149 


X 


J J 












1 9 


41o 




IV/ 


4^7 




xr iinippians. 




VI 


17 


79 


XI 


3 13 14 15 


478 


ii 


o 


178 


IX 


21 


Oft*? 
397 




12 


409 




1 c o 


179 


X 


29 


449 




29 


212 




lo 


y i 




31 


0*70 

278 




16 19 22 23254 




1 A, 1 £ 


179 


VI 


33 405 


449 




22 


405 




1 Q. 
lo 


0/0 




1U 


ziy 




24 25 


368 




1 £ 
IP 


OOO 




19 


302 


Xll 


10 11 15 


363 




ID 


A HQ 




act 
22 


z81 




1 to 9 


297 


m 


9 


jSO / 




25 


498 


xiii 


2 


117 




18 1 Q 


IQl 

iy i 


"Y11 


29 


JIo 










Q 
O 








iyp 


Galatians. 




iv 


/ 


1 Oft 

i zy 




10 


3o7 


i 


8 


447 




1 


oil 




1 J 


oOl. 


ii 


2 


301 










31 






2 381 


409 




Coloiiians. 






lo 


1 AO 

1Q2 




16 


400 


I 


1 C. 1*7 
10 1 4 


O £ 1 

23 1 




9 


576 




19 397 399 




io 




irv 

A V 


1U 


475 


iii 


22 


226 






22b 




28 


2o2 




1 


415 




26 


167 




O / 






10 


400 


It 
It 


3 


167 




58 


291 




24 


400 




20 22 


398 


ATI 


5 


584 




27 28 


366 


111 


11 


366 




13 


291 


iv 


13 20 


381 




16 


475 










20 


383 


IV 




536 


2 Corinthians. 




6 


75 






149 


5 


15 18 


584 


V 


13 


409 


XI 


8 


483 




24. 


492 


vi 


10 


449 










3 


56 




16 


148 




1 ThelTalonians. 


ii 


17 


415 








ii 


15 16 


409 


iv 


2 364 


492 


Ephefians. 




iv 


7 


46 1 




46 


478 


i 


3 


86 


y 


20 


483 




12 


321 




3 4 


192 




27 


436 




jl 


163 




21 


230 








V 


8 


289 


ii 


4 5 


392 




2 ThelTalonians. 




11 


183 




12 


377 


ii 


13 


532 




11 


507 




10 


87 









632 



A TABLE ©F TEXTS. 



2 Theflalonians, 
iii 5 328 

1 Timothy. 



i 


5 


193 


iii 


2 


195 




6 


JI 3 






410 


iv 


1 2 


X? l 




6 


J J 


— 


12 


366 






J3 6 


V 


0 
0 


343 


vi 


3 5 


386 




10 


343 




20 


483 




1 lmoiny. 




I 


1 


192 


ii 


in 


9 1 




7 


52a 


iii 


3 


304 




16 


266 




16 17 




iv 


1 1 


184 


V 


H 


4op 



Titus. 



12 


343 


2 


392 


3 5* 


366 


I I 


276 


*5 


322 


11 12 


s6 l 


814 


500 


4 5 


276 



Hebrews. 



1 


c 6 

5 u 


0 2 


11 


2 3 


39 1 




O 


-02 




H 


249 




I 7 


2 49 


111 
til 


, 7 


o2 




/ 0 


0 u 


IV 

IV 


7 


i»7 




1 2 


301 


vi 


1«7 T 9, 

* j -L \J 


543 




* A 


3°7 


x 


1 P. 


^76 




2 0 29 


374 




37 


345 




T 


2 39 




5^7 


82 




10 


89 


xi 


I 


183 




10 13 140 141 




26 






1 


430 




3 


398 


xii 


18 22 






29 


603 


xrii 


5 


348 


James. 




1 


*7 


475 


ii 


2 3 


343 




2 4 


383 


iii 


*5 


343 




17 


343 




4 


123 


iv 


456 


5 2 5 



— J 3 x 4 '5 2 99 





Peter. 




V 


3 


49 i 


— 


5 


366 




2 Peter. 




i 


21 


195 




15 


297 




10 


5C9 


ji 


12 22 


cor 




18—22 


374 


iii 


ii 


415 


f 


John. 




ii 


34 


296 


— 


18 


483 


iii 


1 


186 




3 


346 




*5 


407 


iv 


1 


492 


V 


12 13 


591 



Jude. 





3 


396 




10 


505 




*7 


534 






2 35 


Revelation. 




i 


8 


108 




12 


188 




14 &c. 


109 


iii 


18 


202 


V 11 


12 13 14 


181 






>7 




16 


5°5 


xi 




376 


xiv 


*3 


416 


xviii 


2 4 6 7 20 354 


XX 


J4 


249 


xxi 


19 20 


402 


xxii 


18 19 


49* 



Philemon. 
— 16 19 

Hebrews. ] 
I n 1 



1 Peter. 

424 j ii 9 472 

— J iii 13 186 

— 20 529 

195 iv 18 jio 



FINIS, 



4 



i 



